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EU summit outlines plan to cope with Mediterranean migrant crisis

EU leaders did not reach a decision to launch a new naval operation in the Mediterranean to protect their borders, but agreed to triple financing of EU’s Operation Triton to €120 million a year

© EPA/ANDREA SCARFO'

BRUSSELS, April 24. /TASS/. An emergency summit of European Union leaders that continued late into the night, produced a plan to cope with a wave of refugees trying to reach Europe by sea.

EU leaders did not reach a decision to launch a new naval operation in the Mediterranean to protect their borders, but agreed to triple financing of EU’s Operation Triton to €120 million a year, as well as to send extra ships, helicopters and planes to save lives in the Mediterranean.

The leaders agreed to coordinate action on accepting and distributing among all 28 member countries the migrants who have grounds to get refugee status, repatriating promptly those who were denied the status.

Thirdly, the European Union announced its bid to fight the causes of migration flows, expanding cooperation with countries of North Africa and lending aid.

The Mediterranean migrant crisis will be once again discussed at a next planned summit in June, European Council chief Donald Tusk told reporters.

The summit was convened after hundreds of migrants died when a boat sank in the Mediterranean last weekend.

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