AlQa'dah 30, 1436, September 14, 2015, SPA -- EU interior ministers have agreed in principle to redistribute a total of 160,000 asylum seekers across Europe, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Monday, while warning that details still need to be hashed out, dpa reported. "This is a first important step, but the truth lies in the execution and the implementation," de Maiziere said, also warning that the preliminary deals struck on Monday were "not enough." "It is still far-out from what we expect on solidarity within the European Union," he added. Germany has become the prime destination for migrants and is expecting to record 1 million asylum seekers this year. It would like to see other member states shoulder some of the burden, in line with the solidarity concept that is at the core of the EU. But the bloc has been struggling to find a joint approach to the biggest inflow of migrants and refugees it has seen since World War II, many of them fleeing war-torn countries like Syria. The preliminary agreements reached by ministers on Monday leave out many of the most prickly issues. The ministers put the finishing touches on plans to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy over the next two years, but almost 8,000 spots still need to be pledged by EU member states to reach that goal. This is expected to be done by the end of the year. They agreed in principle on the relocation of another 120,000 asylum seekers, but questions still remain on which countries should benefit - with Hungary putting up a fight. How many asylum seekers should be allocated to which countries remains to be finalized too, de Maiziere said. There is also consensus on the creation of an EU list of safe countries from which nationals are unlikely to qualify for asylum and the need to include all Balkan countries on it. But differences still remain on whether Turkey should feature on it too, de Maiziere noted. The measures are expected to become more concrete by the time the interior ministers next meet on October 8, the German minister said. He added that the European Commission is additionally expected to report within a week on the progress made in launching "hotspots" in Greece and Italy to register refugees, identify those with genuine asylum claims and decide on their relocation. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also spoke of the need to bolster the EU border agency Frontex, while de Maiziere said that the countries neighbouring Syria and other Middle Eastern crisis spots - which have taken in the most refugees - would receive more aid. Strengthening the EU's external borders and greater efforts to return economic migrants - who do not qualify for international protection - are also seen as key in the response to the migration crisis.
