INTRO:
It took ten hours of talks and deliberations, but European Union leaders have now reached an agreement on a migration deal.
Tension in the block were high, as Italy started refusing migrant rescue ships docking rights.
Our Europe Correspondent Kevin Ozebek reports from Brussels.
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0629eu-ko-pkg.mp3
While details still need to be hammered out—European unity has been preserved for now.
Thursday night—into Friday morning all 28 EU leaders gathered here in Brussels and hashed out where they want the bloc's migration policy to go.
In the end—it was decided that the EU will fund so called migration centers in EU countries willing to host them.
They'd essentially be migration camps where people wait as their asylum claims are processed.
Italy's new populist Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte left the summit Friday morning, celebrating.
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Giuseppe Conte/Italian Prime Minister
"At the end of this European Council we have a more responsible and a more united Europe. Italy is no longer alone."
But just hours earlier he threatened to not sign off on any summit conclusion without a migration deal.
For the past few weeks his government has been refusing rescue ships entry into ports—saying Italy already hosts too many migrants.
This summit also may have saved German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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Angela Merkel/German Chancellor
"Overall, after an intensive discussion on the most challenging theme for the European Union, that is to say migration, it is a good sign that we could agree on a common text."
Her coalition was threatening to crack if she didn't bring the EU together to toughen EU migration policy.
Though she admits more to further unite the block on migration reform will have to be done.
EU leaders also agreed at this summit to look into setting up asylum centers in Africa.
The thinking is having refugee claims processed on that continent would prevent thousands of people from making the often deadly journey across the Mediterranean.
Migration has retuned as THE hot button issue in EU politics…
Even though asylum claims in the EU are actually down.
Rosa Balfour is with the German Marshall Fund.
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Rosa Balfour/German Marshall Fund
We're living in a paradoxical situation. The first point that needs to be said is that there is no migration crisis, there is a political crisis in Europe. The numbers of migrants coming over to European shores have actually been declining."
So far this year just about 40 thousand migrants have made their way to the EU.
In 2015—more than a million fled to the continent.
But populism in politics here is spreading—meaning migration again has been forced to the top of the EU agenda.
I'm Kevin Ozebek in Brussels