5 EU states agree new scheme ‘to distribute migrants’ saved in Mediterranean

Interior ministers from five EU countries said on Monday they had agreed a new scheme to distribute migrants saved from the Mediterranean. The deal, the details of which are not clear, is aimed at relieving the pressure on southern EU states.

The plan will be presented to interior ministers from all 28 EU nations on October 8, with officials anxious to sign up as many states as possible to the program and resolve one of the most contentious issues the bloc has faced in recent years, Reuters said.

“We have started to make history, but it all depends on the support of all or most of the other EU countries in accepting to participate in the disembarkation and distribution of migrants,” said Maltese Interior Minister Michael Farrugia.

Farrugia was joined at Monday’s meeting by his counterparts from Italy, France, Germany and Finland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU.