Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese was jubilant on Monday after an agreement was reached on sharing the burden of asylum seekers who arrive via sea from North Africa at a meeting with her counterparts from Malta, France and Germany in Valletta. The agreement, which will next have to be put to the other EU member States, regards the redistribution of all asylum seekers, not just people who have been recognized as refugees, among other things. "As of today, Italy and Malta are no longer alone," Lamorgese said.
"There is an awareness that these two countries are Europe's port.
"This text goes in the right direction.
"There is concrete content and we have untangled some complicated political knots.
"We hope as many EU countries as possible agree with it.
"What happened today in Malta is very important.
"It's a first, concrete step towards real common European action. "Migration policy should be done together with other States.
"We have always said that people who arrive in Malta or Italy arrive in Europe".
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