Migration in the Mediterranean became a focus as Germany took up the rotating presidency of the EU Council in July and the EUs foreign minister, Josep Borrell, visited Malta this week.

Just a week after Germany took up the rotating EU Council presidency, EU interior ministers held an online conference to discuss security and migration in theMediterranean. At the same time, the EUCommissions Vice President and High Representative for ForeignAffairs and Security Josep Borrell visited Malta, one of the first "in-person" vitis since the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Borrell said that the EU is facing severalchallenges in our southern neighborhood and I was glad to discussthem today in Malta" with Maltese ministers; including the foreignminister, the president and the prime minister.

In a press statement, Borrellacknowledged that Malta had been "facing huge pressure" regardingmigration and that the EU fully shared Maltas determination toaddress irregular migration in a comprehensive way.

Increasedcapacity for Libyan coastguard?

Borrellsaid that the starting point for this "comprehensive" policywould be to address the crisis in Libya and support the Libyanauthorities. He said that Libya was the "largest beneficiary inNorth Africa of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa." Much ofthat money has gone to strengthening the Libyan coastguard. Borrellsaid that this work needed to continue, "in order to strengthentheir capacity of intervention to dismantle trafficking networks andconduct rescue operations in their area of responsibility."

At themoment, Borrell said, the work to dismantle these networks was beingdone mainly through the EU naval and air operation Irini and the EUBorder Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM). He added that Maltawanted to increase the capacities of the Libyan coastguard too.

'Shameful' handling of migration by EU, Seehofer

While Borrell was talking to the Maltese government, EU interior ministers were taking part in a two-day online conference todiscuss security and migration. Now that Germany has taken over therotating presidency for the next six months, this meeting was led by the German interior minister, Horst Seehofer.

Seehofer called on his European counterparts to agree on a better and fairer solution for the distribution of migrants rescued at sea. He said it was "shameful" that the EU has still not found a solution five years after the so-called migration crisis.

"Each boat requires painstaking efforts to achieve a distribution (of migrants) among member states," said Seehofer. "And each time, only a small number (of the member states) is ready to do so". He added that the EU cannot leave Italy, Malta, Greece or Spain alone to deal with this issue. "This is a situation that is not worthy of the EU," he said.

Seehofer called for Europe to take a "pragmatic" approach to "those who arrive at the external borders." He once again reiterated the need for "as many member states as possible" taking part in sharing the numbers of migrants who arrive and returning those who have no right to claim protection in the EU.

"Europeis a community of values. Respecting human dignity and human rightsis the most important thing, and preventing deaths in theMediterranean is our shared goal," said Seehofer in a pressstatement at the end of the conference.Migrants on cargo ship taken in by Malta

During the two day meeting it was announced that a group of 50 migrants who were rescued near Lampedusa by an animal cargo vesselhad been allowed on shore in Maltaafter repeated pleas from the ships captain and pro-migrant groups like Alarm Phone and Sea Watch.

Theship had been refused entry in Lampedusa and Malta. Malta, whosesearch and rescue zone the migrants were in when they were rescued,had said that they couldnt dock until other EU countries agreed toan automatic sharing out of migrants who arrive on the island nation.

'Bringing new momentum to the topic of migration'

Aheadof the conference, Seehofer already announced that "bringing newmomentum to the topic of migration," was one of the German EUpresidencys stated aims.

He said he found his counterparts around Europe "very willing tocontinue our focused discussions," and promised "conferences willbe held soon in Europe to agree on concrete steps." A conference in Italy on July 13 was announced where delegates would discuss "closercooperation with North African countries," to fight human smugglingand instigate an effective return policy.

Malta: Agreement for an automatic mechanism

After Borrell's visit, the Maltese government announced that it had reached an agreement with a number of European countries to relocate more than 280 migrants currently in Malta.

Malta has repeatedly asked for this mechanism to becomeautomatic, but so far, despite numerous agreements, the sharing out of new arrivals has been done on an ad-hoc and case-by-case basis.

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela called EU policy in this area a "failure" as Borrell stood beside him, reported dpa. He said they had received more help from Libya in this period than the EU.According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, Malta received 1,200 migrants in the first four months of 2020. "Hundreds more have disembarked since then," wrote dpa.

Speaking to journalists, Borrell agreed that an automatic mechanismwas what was needed to be able to save people at sea and quicklydisembark them in Malta before sharing them across the EU. He said "solidarity" was needed on this point and that the EU wasworking on that. However, he also noted that "I cannot tell whenand even I cannot tell if the Member States will agree because therole of the Commission is to propose. The Commission proposes and theCouncil and the Parliament decide."

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EU focuses on migration and sea rescue in the Mediterranean across several official meetings - InfoMigrants