40,000 migrants will be relocated from Italy and Greece and another 20,000 will be resettled from non-EU countries as the majority of EU leaders agree to take their share, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said last night after 7 hours of Summit meetings, ending at 3 am..

The Prime Minister said; "today, for the first time, nearly all EU countries bar those who have exceptions within their treaties and one or two others, have agreed to divide the burden of migrants that had entered into Greece and Italy".

"Why is this important for Malta? Because it creates an important precedent. For the first time countries are saying that yes, they will take part of the burden and it was an important breakthrough".

During the Summit, all leaders made sure to have their voices heard, Dr Muscat added.

The Prime Minister said that the agreement was a strong signal. "The argument was... that if we are unable to find a solution for 60,000 people, how can we find agreement on other topics, such as the Greece situation. There was the question of mandatory or voluntary burden sharing of the 60,000. Countries chose to help, and it was clear that there was no other option".

The Prime Minister stressed that the word 'voluntary' is not mentioned in the agreement.

"If at some point in the future, god forbid, Malta finds itself in a state of emergency like Italy and Greece, Malta can use this precedent to our advantage".

He mentioned that the UK chose not to partake through their opt-out clause, Denmark who also have the clause and currently have a transitory-government and as such cannot take such decisions, and Ireland who also can opt-out. "Then there's the question of Hungary, who face a migration situation of their own and have an exceptional situation. All other countries will take migrants".

"The European Commission will have to decide on the key (how the migrants would be divided). The Commission has already brought out its proposals and negotiations will begin as to how they will be divided. In addition, if a country sees a certain influx, they would not need to keep sharing the burden. The EC conclusions also contain references to country specifics, which includes Malta, where it's realities as a frontline state and the number of migrants it hosts will be taken into consideration," he explained.

"We have, in our hands, an assurance that if an emergency situation arises we will not be on our own".

During the Summit, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi at some point during the Summit flared up. He told the EU council that if they do not accept the relocation of 40,000 migrants, then "you do not deserve to be called Europe," sources within the EU have said.

According to the source, Renzi also said, continuing his statement - "if this is your idea of Europe keep it. Either there is solidarity or don't waste our time".

EU leaders were discussing migration deep into the night, following a lack of agreement on Greece.

Funnily enough, British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech about changes in the EU treaty he believes the UK needs in order to sway public opinion due to the upcoming Brexit referendum, however his speech served more as a rest between very heated discussions on immigration.

While heated discussions on issues that could very well change the face of the EU, the Council newsroom, with some 3-400 journalists, remained mostly quiet during the discussions... that is until a diplomat hit the floor, or an interesting piece of inside information leaked. Perhaps the only consolidation was the cafeteria which remained open, serving much needed coffee and other goodies, where journalists would sit back with a pint and try to let off some steam. It actually got so bad at one point that journalists took to posting cat photos under the official hashtag.

Getting back on point.

Since the beginning of the year, some 153,000 migrants were detected at Europe's external borders. In May, the number of migrants detected in the Mediterranean exceeded 20,500. Between 1 January and 31 May, there were over 47,000 arrivals in Italy.

A couple of days ago this newsroom revealed the leaked draft conclusions regarding Migration on the Summit. These were subject to change pending Council conclusions.

Aside from the migrant relocation from Greece and Italy, structured border zones and facilities to deal with incoming migrants were touted to be proposed and set up in frontline states (which would most likely include Italy and Greece, possibly Malta) to deal with migrants in a swift manner.

In addition, "Effective return, readmission and reintegration policies for those not qualifying for protection are an essential part of combating illegal migration and will help discourage people from risking their lives. All tools shall be mobilised to promote readmission of illegal migrants to countries of origin and transit," the draft read.

The draft also dealt with the Valletta conference, it will seek to achieve assistance to partner countries in their fight against smugglers, a strengthened cooperation on an effective returns policy and better targeting of development cooperation and enhancing investments in Africa "to address the root causes of migration, as well as providing economic and social opportunities".