Germany is facing difficulties in taking in more migrants, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Wednesday.

“Germany, like Italy, is at the limit of its capacity,” Steinmeier said in an interview with Italian Newspaper Corriere della Sera, pointing out that Germany had received a third of all EU asylum requests in the first half of 2023.

The president acknowledged that both Italy and Germany had “heavy loads to bear” and called for a “fair distribution” of migratory burdens within Europe.