(Politico) Italy finally gave its blessing.
Rome’s green light on Thursday evening unlocked a major deal to overhaul the EU’s asylum procedures for the first time in years after a grueling gathering of home affairs ministers in Luxembourg.
“I wasn’t sure this day would come,” said Maria Malmer Stenergard, migration minister for Sweden, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. Other ministers hailed the deal — which 21 countries endorsed — as “historic.”
The accord would change both how asylum seekers are processed at the border and how they are relocated across Europe. While enough countries — including Germany and France — had come on board on Thursday afternoon, a coalition of about 10 states led by Italy blocked the agreement until late evening.
