EU leaders underline support to Iran nuclear accord

BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (KUNA) -- Leaders of the 28-member European Union ended their meeting late Thursday night after discussing the issues of migration, security and defense and foreign relations.
In conclusion, of the first day of the two-day summit, they reaffirmed the EU's "full commitment to the Iran nuclear deal" and endorsed the statement by the EU Foreign Affairs Council of 16 October.
The EU called on North Korea to "fully and unconditionally comply without delay with its obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions and to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner." The summit also held a debate on relations with Turkey, the leaders said in a statement without giving any details.
Speaking at a news conference after the EU summit, European Council President Donald Tusk explicitly ruled out any EU mediation over the issue of Catalonia.
"There is no room, no space for any kind of mediation or international initiative or action," he said.
On migration the EU noted "overall, migratory flows are being significantly reduced and the number of deaths at sea has decreased." It repeated the importance of working with the Libyan authorities and all neighbors of Libya to enhance border management capacity and to support the development of the local communities in Libya along the migratory routes.
"We have a real chance of closing the Central Mediterranean route," said Tusk and added that he expects to see concrete results within the next few weeks.
On his part, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker told the joint news conference "we are reaching our limits when it comes to this Emergency Trust Fund for Africa." "If we do want to be as present as possible in Africa, mainly in the northern part of Africa, we have to increase the financial means which we have to have at our disposal," he added.
The EU leaders will discuss Brexit later in the day. (end) nk.mb