The Italian interior ministry said on Monday that a total of 9,467 migrants had landed on the country's coasts from January 1 through April 30 this year, down 74.6 percent on the 37,235 reported over the same period last year.

The ministry noted that a reported 3,171 migrants landed in April 2018, down 75.5 percent compared to the same month in 2017, when 12,943 migrants arrived. The decrease in migrant landings was even more pronounced among arrivals from Libya, which were down 82.83 percent in total.

A recent draft of Italy's finance and economy document shows that despite lower numbers of migrant landings on the country's coasts expenditure on migrants is set rise this year. 

Some 4.3 billion euros were spent in 2017 and this year between 4.6 billion euros and 5 billion euros are expected to be spent, if the success in curbing arrivals continues. The drop in landings, the document stressed, "does not reflect a proportional reduction in the stay" of migrants in reception centers; around 174,000 migrants remains in the country in early April "especially due to the limited success achieved by EU relocation plans." 

Next week, the European Commission will propose adding 5,000 units to FRONTEX, Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said.He noted that this would help such countries as Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Greece, Malta and Cyprus to expand their control of the bloc's external borders.

He added that he hoped normality would soon return to the Schengen area.