Excerpt:
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Saturday said he remained optimistic about completing a deal on migrants with Italy despite pushback from Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
Salvini on Friday denied having reached a deal to take back migrants who had already applied for asylum in Italy, saying he wanted more concessions from Berlin.
Seehofer had announced on Thursday that he had secured an accord with Italy over the issue in line with similar deals negotiated with Greece and Spain.
“I’m sticking to what I said: We will get it done,” Seehofer said during a party congress of his Bavarian conservative party.