Days Of Illegal Migration To EU Over, Says Tusk

Turkish leaders have agreed to stem the flow of migrants and refugees who are reaching the EU through the Balkans.

Following talks in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk said "the days of irregular migration to Europe are over".

He added: "The flow of migrants passing from Turkey to Greece remains much too high and needs to be brought down significantly."

Turkey has confirmed it will begin to take back migrants who are apprehended in the Aegean Sea, where hundreds have drowned during desperate attempts to reach Greek islands.

It will also implement an agreement "to accept the rapid return of all migrants not in need of international protection crossing from Turkey into Greece".

A statement released after the meeting added: "The Heads of State or Government agreed that bold moves were needed to close down people smuggling routes, to break the business model of the smugglers, to protect our external borders and to end the migration crisis in Europe.

"We need to break the link between getting in a boat and getting settlement in Europe."

Mr Tusk said the EU has agreed to look at resettling some of the millions of refugees currently in Turkey.

A "one in, one out" system was proposed at the summit - where one Syrian refugee would be resettled in the EU for every person who was sent back to Turkey from Greece.

The European Commission's President, Jean-Claude Juncker, added that refugees who attempt to reach Europe illegally will be put on the bottom of the list for resettlement.

Sky's Europe Correspondent, Mark Stone, said clamping down on the well-trodden migration route will be "very difficult to try and put into place", as some EU courts may rule the measures proposed are not legal.

Another proposal will see Turkey and the EU work together to improve humanitarian conditions inside Syria, identifying "safe zones" where refugees can live.

Ahmet Davutoglu called for €3bn (£2.3bn) of EU funds already pledged for refugees to begin being used in the coming days - and warned Ankara will need a further €3bn to cope with Syrian refugees who have crossed the border into Turkey.

Greece's Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, said he believes many leaders were surprised at Turkey's "attractive proposals" for managing the migration crisis.

A two-day summit will begin on 17 March to finalise each commitment, but any agreement made with Turkey will come with conditions.

The country wants talks which advance its long-standing goal of joining the European Union, as well as visa-free travel for Turkish citizens travelling into the Schengen zone.