The destiny of the world - not only regions - is at stake in the Mediterranean migration crisis, Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday.
"On the map of the world, the Mediterranean looks like a lake. But it is a lake where once again the world's destiny is being played out - a match that is not regional but global," Alfano said.
He made the remarks at the opening of a two-day conference on migration and security in the Mediterranean attended by representatives of OCSE's 57 member-states and its six Mediterranean partners - Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.
Italy is the main entry point for migrants from Africa to Europe and over half a million have landed in the country since 2014 according to data from the UN migration agency (IOM) and the Italian government.