Reaching an agreement on the measures that will be taken by the EU to address migration issues was the easiest task, European Council president Donald Tusk said, insisting it was “far too early” to talk about success.

Addressing a press conference in Brussels on Friday afternoon marking the end of the two-day summit during which migration issues dominated talks, Mr Tusk said that the set of agreements send a clear message to NGOs that they must respect the laws.

“We have sent a clear message to all vessels, including those of NGOs, operating in the Mediterranean, that they must respect the law and must not obstruct the operation of the Libyan Coast Guard. This demonstrates our clear and univocal support for the actions of the Maltese authorities," he said.

Giving a breakdown of the most important parts of the agreement on migration, Mr Tusk highlighted the importance of developing disembarkation platforms outside Europe, boosting support for the Libyan coastguards as well as that of ensuring funds for action against illegal migration.

“For this we need to start discussions with Africa, both transit countries and countries of origin. But yesterday was the first time I felt that today we can really talk about effective control of our external borders. Everything is still very controversial, nothing is easy in this context, but finally I saw determination and unity,” Mr Tusk said, adding that talks on Brexit were still hard but not elaborating.

On his part, Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said he was pleased with the developments related to the banking union, noting progress in that regards.

On migration, Mr Juncker remarked that he was pleased to see that proposals put forward by the Commission had been taken onboard by the leaders, notably the investment in €500 million in the fund for Africa.