Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta sign joint memo on EU’s new migration rulebook

Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, which have borne the brunt of the European Union's migration crisis, have sent a joint memorandum outlining their positions regarding the bloc's new Pact on Migration and Asylum to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

More specifically, prime ministers Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Giuseppe Conte, Pedro Sánchez and Robert Abela urged the bloc to enact measures to ensure greater burden sharing by member-states and to set out the rules with regard to the obligations of the countries of first entry.

Citing the need for an effective system of returns, they also insisted that border controls must not lead to the creation of large closed centers on EU territory.

[ANA-MPA]