Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil yesterday said Europe ought to take action to protect itself from the influx of migrants, even through European border and coast guards.

Addressing the statutory congress of the European People’s Party in Madrid yesterday evening, he called on fellow leaders to take measures to counter the unprecedented migration flows that Europe has faced in recent months.

“We must show that we can deal effectively both with the causes and the consequences of the migratory flows. We must curtail the flow through an effective foreign policy which makes a real difference in countries like Syria, Libya and Turkey and not remain helpless on the root causes of migration.

“We must protect our external borders together, if necessary by forming European Border Guards and a European Coast Guard, because the vast external maritime borders of my country and of the other Mediterranean countries are also your external borders,” Dr Busuttil told fellow party leaders.

We must curtail the flow through an effective foreign policy which makes a real difference in countries like Syria, Libya and Turkey and not remain helpless on the root causes of migration

He also said European states had to “share fairly” the responsibility of dealing with those who make it to their country as well as treat these people with dignity.

While re-erecting national borders was an option, this would not just stop people entering but stop them from going out, “blocking our own freedom of movement”.

He appealed to European leaders to face up to these challenges and warned against being remembered as the generation of leaders who were “a passing footnote in the history of European unity”.

“Doing this together is complex and requires decisive actions on many fronts. But it has also one big advantage. It helps us do together what none of us can do alone,” he said. “When push came to shove, the EPP was always there to lead the way and to take the bold and ambitious decisions in the European Union when it really matters. This is what makes us different from the other political forces.

“This is what our citizens expect from us. And this is why they trust us to lead in Europe,” he added.