Brussels, Jun 26 (IANS): European Union leaders have agreed to relocate thousands of migrants, currently being sheltered in Greece and Italy, a media report said on Friday.

At talks held in the Belgian capital of Brussels late Thursday night, President of the European Council, Donald Tusk said that 40,000 people would be relocated to other EU (European Union) states over the next two years, BBC reported.

"Leaders agreed that 40,000 persons in need will be relocated from Greece and Italy to other states over the next two years," Tusk told reporters.

"Interior ministers will finalise the scheme by the end of July."

Europe is facing a growing crisis with a surge in the number of people trying to make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean from the coast of Libya.

There has also been a sharp increase in migration from the Middle East to the eastern part of the EU via the Balkans.

In April, after hundreds of people died when a makeshift vessel sank off the Libyan coast, EU leaders pledged to come up with a long-term solution to the migration crisis.