Premier Paolo Gentiloni reiterated
Thursday that the European Union must do more to help Italy cope
with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis after a bilateral
meeting with European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
"Greater commitment is needed both in economic terms and in
terms of political decisions," Gentiloni said as he went into a
meeting of the Party of European Socialists before the start of
the European Summit.
"It is necessary to recognise that the Commission and
Jean-Claude Juncker are aware of this commitment.
"I hope that this translates into a refinancing of the fund
for Africa, which the Commission will promote".
Juncker told Gentiloni that Italy can "continue to count on
European solidarity" during the bilateral, an EC spokesperson
said.
The spokesperson said the two agreed in particular on the
"need for the EU and member states to speed up implementation of
the agreed-upon actions in the Malta Declaration" as well as
"ensure sufficient financing to face the migrant influx from
Libya".
Gentiloni thanked Juncker for the record EU solidarity fund
allocation of 1.2 billion euros for the parts of Italy hit by a
recent series of earthquakes.
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