Remarks by President Donald Tusk before his meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven

Good afternoon. I am happy to be back again in Stockholm. And thank you Stefan for your warm hospitality.

My visit to Stockholm this time is prompted by the result of the UK referendum. Our meeting in Bratislava next week will mark the beginning of the reflection process and I am currently consulting the 27 on their ideas and expectations.

In short, to me the aim of the Bratislava summit is to bring back the political control of our common future. We need to come up with a diagnosis of the Union's current shortcomings. And more importantly, the Union and its Member States must demonstrate our strong determination and ability to address the major concerns and worries of its citizens. Based on my consultations so far, I have no doubt that the three main challenges are uncontrolled irregular migration, terrorism, and the fears of globalisation. These three challenges are not unique for Europe but they are essential for understanding the increasing lack of trust in the European Union. My ambition is that in Bratislava we can agree on the main priorities and what we need to do about them in the next few months.

For me it is clear that our first priority must be to secure our external borders. This is also a necessary precondition for a common European asylum policy. In Bratislava I would like to see a critical number of Member States sending border guards and equipment to help Bulgaria protect its border with Turkey. This would be a concrete example of support to an EU country that is seeing more migrants trying to cross illegally into the EU. And it would be an important signal that we are serious and will not hesitate to act if and when needed. Never again can we allow our borders to be overrun by waves of irregular migrants as in 2015.

Fighting the threat of terrorism in Europe and elsewhere is another priority, and where there is no alternative to greater European cooperation and coordination. In Bratislava I want us to pledge that all persons, including EU citizens, that cross the Union's external borders are checked against the relevant databases. It is a question of our security.

In a wider sense we also need to bring back control of globalisation to make sure that it is an opportunity and not a threat. We need to find a way to safeguard the interests of our citizens while remaining open to the world.

This is how I see the situation and how I suggest solving some of our collective problems. I look forward to discussing this with you, Stefan. Thank you.