Finland for widest EU backing for Malta refugee deal

Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo said on Monday that Finland will work for the widest possible backing in the European Union (EU) for a four-country agreement reached in Malta on redistribution of asylum seekers rescued in the Mediterranean.

Interior ministers of Italy, Germany, France and Malta agreed earlier on Monday on a temporary system of redistribution.

Ohisalo attended the meeting as the representative of Finland, which is serving as the presidency of the Council of the EU.

Talking to Finnish media from Malta, the Finnish minister underlined that the agreement is "temporary and voluntary," and aims at getting other EU countries to join in. Finland will work for that goal during the time before the full meeting in Luxembourg on Oct. 8. The temporary agreement is valid until that meeting.

Ohisalo said that Finland has not decided whether to join the deal, but it is "in line with Finnish policy goals," she told a Finnish language newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The agreement reached in Malta followed the failure of an all-EU ministerial gathering in Helsinki to agree on the issue.

At the informal meeting in Helsinki in July, a draft by French and German ministers did not obtain the required support of 15 member countries and failed.