Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has defended the EU-Turkey deal, which has been coming in for a lot of criticism, saying that time will tell how effective a plan it is.

“That is an important step and part of the agreement with Turkey. And we hope that the agreement proves to be effective in the next months. I mean that many refugees will be helped, but also that the number of refugees that we have seen coming over the past year will clearly be reduced,” said Steinmeier.

“We need to come closer to finding a permanent solution for Syria. The German leadership regarding migration is important. The fact that Germany took the reins is a historic move. We agree on the fact that we have to find solutions to contribute and take some pressure off them, and that is only possible by finding a way to give support,” said Boerge Brende, Norwegian foreign minister.