German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the 16 state governors agreed on new and stricter measures to curb the high number of migrants flowing into the country, reaching a compromise on an issue that has become a huge political problem for the government and a hot-button topic in society.

The new measures include speeding up asylum procedures, benefit restrictions for asylum-seekers and more financial aid from the federal government for the states and local communities dealing with the influx.

Speaking early Tuesday after an overnight meeting that lasted several hours, Scholz, a Social Democrat who leads a center-left government, called the agreement “a historical moment” — a remark that showed how much of a burden the topic had become for the government.

The number of new asylum applications for the year to date was around 73% higher at the end of September than in the same period last year, official statistics show.