Germany Strikes Migrant Return Deal With Italy – Interior Minister

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Berlin has concluded a deal with Rome for returning irregular migrants, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday.

"As far as I know, the agreement with Italy has been concluded," Seehofer told German lawmakers, deeming it a success.

The interior minister noted that the deal lacked his signature and that of his Italian counterpart, Matteo Salvini, adding that the agreement would be signed in the coming days.

READ MORE: Italian Official Urges to Revise Rome's Contribution to UN Budget

The migration issue has been a stumbling block in the relationship between anti-migration hard-liner Seehofer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an advocate of a so-called open door migration policy.

Facing divisions inside the government, Merkel, shifted her stance on migration, which resulted in Germany concluding migrant return deals with Spain and Greece earlier this year.

The deals stipulate that migrants apprehended at the German-Austrian border should be returned to either Spain or Greece, depending on where they were registered upon their arrival to the European Union.