Italy warned the European Union it risks being forced to end the free movement of people, one of its central principles, unless it eases rules for asylum-seekers, after regional leaders clashed over thousands of refugees forging into the bloc from the east.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, whose country has borne the brunt of the influx from Africa and the Middle East, said that common policies to share the burden would leave the EU much better placed to help people fleeing conflict. He also called for clear criteria to define so-called safe countries that migrants could be sent back to.