EU leaders are meeting in Malta on Friday to find a way to stem the flow of migrants through the Mediterranean and show unity in the face of the upcoming Brexit negotiations and growing anti-EU sentiments. The European Union finds itself under pressure from both inside and outside of the bloc, including increasingly complicated relations with long-term ally the United States. The first point on the agenda at Friday's meeting will be a discussion on migrants entering Europe through the Mediterranean. All 28 countries of the bloc will be represented at the session. Leaders are expected to take measures to strengthen Libya's ability to stop migrants on its territorial waters and create better conditions at refugee camps in the country. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his Libyan counterpart Fayez al-Sarraj signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at curbing illegal migration across the Mediterranean late Thursday in Rome. The memorandum says the two countries will work to stregthen Libyan institutions, including the coast guard and border patrol. On Friday afternoon, 27 heads of state and government countries will hold talks focusing on the bloc's future after Brexit. British Prime Minister Theresa May will not be present. However, May does plan on briefing EU leaders on her meeting last week with US President Donald Trump, who gave her a "guarantee that he was 100 per cent supportive of NATO," British officials said on Thursday. The US president had previously questioned the alliance's effectiveness. Just days before the meeting in the EU's smallest member state, European Council President Donald Tusk urged leaders to unite, warning of threats to the bloc's future, including "worrying declarations" by Trump. "The disintegration of the European Union will not lead to the restoration of some mythical, full sovereignty of its member states," Tusk wrote in a letter. "Only together can we be fully independent."
