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Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has welcomed the agreement on migration reached after hours of gruelling negotiations in Brussels.

In a joint statement EU leaders agreed to set up asylum processing centres in and outside of Europe and restrict migrant moves within the bloc. The asylum processing centres in Europe would be set up on a "voluntary basis" by willing member states.

There was also consensus on the need to tighten the EU’s external border and boost the fight against people smugglers.

The Czech prime minister, who has vehemently opposed mandatory migrant quotas, said the agreement was a huge success for the Visegrad Group’s common policy.

Imoba, which is part of the Agrofert conglomerate once owned by the current prime minister, voluntarily returned an EU subsidy of CZK 50 million on Thursday. Imoba said it repaid the money, issued to the Stork’s Nest complex near Prague, because it did not expect to be treated fairly in the courts.

Earlier, Imoba said such a move would not represent an admission that grant regulations were breached. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), the billionaire founder of Agrofert, faces criminal charges over having allegedly wrongly acquired EU funding earmarked for small businesses.

British actor Robert Pattinson, best known for playing a vampire in the "Twilight" series, will be a special guest at the closing ceremony of this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

During the July 7 ceremony, he will receive The Festival President’s Award, which is presented to outstanding personalities of world cinema.

Mr. Pattinson started his film career by playing Cedric Diggory in the 2005 fantasy film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". He is now among the highest paid actors in Hollywood. In 2010, he was named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said the Czech Republic would reject Italy’s demand for greater EU solidarity in accepting refugees at the upcoming EU summit in Brussels.

Speaking ahead of the two-day meeting, Mr. Babiš reiterated the Czech government’s stand that the migrant crisis should be resolved in the countries of origin and stressed that the responsibility for protecting the EU’s southern border now lies predominantly with Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta.

He said EU politicians were making a grave mistake by automatically accepting responsibility for a growing number of refugees and warned that this policy would fuel radical parties and movements on the continent.