BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2018) The upcoming informal summit of EU leaders in Salzburg will focus on Brexit and ways to tackle migration through strengthening the union's internal borders and cooperation with the regions of migrants' origin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.
The statement was made during the chancellor's meeting with Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz in Berlin. The meeting comes in the run-up to the informal summit of EU leaders in Salzburg, slated for September 19-20.
"We agreed to meet because we will have an informal summit in Salzburg next Wednesday and Thursday, and we want to discuss the agenda ... The issue of migration remains very important. We share the basic approaches of the Austrian presidency [of the Council of the European Union], namely that we need to ensure protection of external borders. [European Commission President] Jean-Claude Juncker announced far-reaching proposals [on the issue in his annual state of the union address], which I very much welcome. We must, of course, focus on Africa, on the countries where migrants come from," Merkel said.
The issue of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the union will be also "high on agenda," Merkel added.
The chancellor stressed that the informal summit was a very convenient format for such discussions, noting that the meeting was more about exchanging views rather than making decisions.
The Salzburg summit is expected to become a key event of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Vienna has been advocating for a "fight" against undocumented migration, the strengthening of EU internal borders and more active cooperation with the countries of migrants' origin.
