The German Interior Ministry said it reached an agreement with Greece on Friday to take back asylum seekers already registered in the country.
The return agreement will extend to asylum seekers registered in Greece by the Eurodac system – the EU’s fingerprint database – spokeswoman Eleonore Petermann for the German Ministry of the Interior announced.
“We have reached an agreement with Greece that will be formalized shortly,” said a spokeswoman for Germany’s interior ministry. She added that the deal would be enforced after a final exchange of letters between the two governments.
The readmission window extended to 48 hours, Ms Petermann said. Further details would be made public after the deal was signed.
As far as Italy is concerned, Ms Petermann added that negotiations are still ongoing and that she expects an agreement will also be reached with Italy soon.
A similar deal between Germany and Spain took effect last weekend, where Spain agreed to take back asylum seekers who arrive in Germany, as Chancellor Angela Merkel faces domestic pressure to reduce arrivals of migrants and refugees.