An informal European Council meeting is being called in Malta by Council President Donald Tusk immediately after the Valletta Migration Summit.

He tweeted his intention saying that actions had to be speeded up to avoid the worst.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in another tweet that Mr Tusk had informed him of his intention to call the summit in Malta.

In an invitation letter to members of the European Council, Mr Tusk noted that the council's meetings in September and October set orientations in developing a comprehensive European response to the migration crisis and led to some positive results.

However, the migratory flow continued at an unprecedented pace and some EU states introduced different measures at internal Schengen borders.

"As I have warned before, the only way not to dismantle Schengen is to ensure proper management of EU external borders. We must do all we can to keep Schengen intact and so any initiative that may lead to the re-establishment of borders within Schengen should be withheld.

"If we are to avoid the worst we must speed up our actions. This is why I have decided to call an informal meeting of EU Heads of State or Government, to be held just after the Valletta Summit, on November 12 at 2.30pm."

Mr Tusk said that the purpose of the meeting would primarily be to assess the state of implementation of the measures decided so far, notably as regards:

1. Stepping up cooperation with third countries, including Turkey, to stem flows;

2. Implementing the decisions taken on relocation;

3. Setting up hotspots in Greece and Italy, as well as reinforcing reception capacities and providing FRONTEX and EASO with the required additional expertise;

4. Discuss how to effectively reinforce control of external borders.

"Given the speed at which events are developing, it is essential for all of us to have up-to-date information. I therefore welcome the initiatives taken by the Luxembourg Presidency to activate the EU's Integrated Political Crisis Response arrangements and to convene an extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council on November 9, which should usefully inform our discussions in Valletta.

"While we will come back to the issue of migration at our regular meeting in December, I do not exclude that we would need to set further orientations already in Valletta. I will keep you informed in the run-up to our meeting," Mr Tusk said.

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