The EU is close to signing multibillion-euro deals with Jordan and Morocco to strengthen co-operation on reducing migration to the bloc, Brussels’ new commissioner for the Mediterranean has said.

Concerned by rising support for far-right, anti-immigrant parties across the bloc, the EU is increasingly leaning on countries in the Middle East and north Africa to curb migration, offering financial support in return for tougher border control measures.

The EU’s efforts to sign more strategic partnerships come as recent deals with Egypt and Tunisia have been criticised over the countries’ human rights records. Morocco, an important transit country, has already been receiving funding from Brussels to curb departures to the bloc, while Jordan houses more than a million Syrian refugees, putting pressure on the small Middle Eastern kingdom’s economy.