EUROPEAN Union commissioner for migration Magnus Brunner has vowed that the bloc will take a “firm” approach with authorities in Libya following a spike in illegal migration across the Mediterranean.

He plans to travel to the north African country next week with government representatives from Greece, Italy and Malta, seeking tougher measures from the Libyan authorities to stop boats carrying migrants from leaving for Europe.

“That is actually a question which bothers us quite a lot at the moment. Libya is, of course, at the top of the agenda and we’re travelling together to Libya next week because we have to be fast, I think, and firm,” Mr Brunner told a conference in Athens on Tuesday.

The EU commissioner, who discussed the forthcoming visit at a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said the delegation would meet representatives from both the United Nations-recognised government in western Libya and a rival authority in the east.

Greece recently announced plans to send warships into international waters in the region following a surge in crossings from Libya to the Greek island of Crete, a more perilous route than the more frequently used passage between Turkey and nearby Greek islands.

In 2023, hundreds died when the fishing trawler Adriana, carrying migrants from Libya to Italy, sank off the coast of Greece’s Peloponnese region.