The EU leaders’ agreement on a migrant relocation system was hailed as a major breakthrough by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this afternoon.

“We managed to get to an unprecedented situation where the weight of migration will no longer fall on frontline countries but it will be shared. The concept of responsibility has been agreed by all countries,” Dr Muscat told a news conference at the end of summit he described as the "toughest, longest, even the meanest discussion” he has seen at EU Council level.

Dr Muscat addressing the media. Photo: Omar Camilleri, DOI

Determined not to be dragged into negotiations over Greece's debt debacle at their summit in Brussels, leaders instead found themselves sparring for seven hours about whether to take in 40,000 asylum seekers now in Italy and Greece and another 20,000 people currently outside the EU.

Though agreement was reached, the quota will not be mandatory while countries like the UK, Denmark and Ireland, Hungary and Bulgaria will not be included in the distribution system.

Asked whether the fact that the system was non-mandatory would serve as an obstacle, Dr Muscat said some member states had reservations about going home and informing the electorate that they were forced to get into a programme by the European Commission.

Still, he said the outcome was very positive since there was ultimately agreement on the need for all of Europe to show solidarity on the migrant problem.

Dr Muscat said he was convinced that Malta’s decision to take on around 300 migrants despite being on the frontline of the migration issue had changed the mood among leaders in a number of countries who were initially reluctant to take part in the programme.