BRUSSELS (AP) — The latest developments as hundreds of thousands of people seeking safety make an epic trek through Europe. All times local. 3:00 p.m. The German government is moving to improve coordination of its response to the migrant crisis and putting Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff in charge of the effort. Government spokesman Georg Streiter said after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that Peter Altmaier will be in charge of "political coordination" of the response. Germany has seen hundreds of thousands of refugees and other migrants arrive this year — more than any other country in the European Union — and the influx is straining its capacity to house the newcomers and process asylum applications. Streiter says coordination between ministries will be strengthened. He says the government hopes to speed up management of the crisis. ___ 2:50 p.m. A small group of Eritrean asylum seekers is to be moved to Sweden on Friday as the European Union's effort to relocate migrants away from overburdened Italy and Greece gains momentum. The Eritreans will be sent to Sweden from Italy under the EU's plan to eventually share 160,000 refugees from countries hardest hit by the arrival of more than half a million people this year. The EU has deployed asylum and border teams to Italy to identify people who might qualify for asylum or those coming to Europe in search of jobs and who should probably be sent home. EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Wednesday that similar fast-track asylum teams could also be operational in Greece within two weeks. __ 10: 35 a.m. The European Union says it is going after suspected migrant trafficking and smuggling vessels in the international waters of the Mediterranean with an Italian aircraft carrier and five other vessels. In reaction to the tens of thousands of people crossing the Mediterranean and the thousands of lives lost, the EU set up an operation that initially centered on saving those drifting on the high seas and would later also include directly targeting smuggling and trafficking operations. Led by the Italian flagship Cavour, the flotilla also includes two German and a British, French and Spanish warship each. Seven planes and helicopters are also part of Operation Sophia. Naval personnel of EU nations are allowed "to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking on the high seas, in line with international law" as of Wednesday. Join the conversation about this story »
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