Italy's premier Matteo Renzi has praised a European Union summit on migration that agree to boost funding for Syrian refugees remaining in the Middle East and to strengthen EU borders.
"It has been an important night for Italy," Renzi said.
"Until a few months ago, we got a dirty look when we said that this issue concerns everyone," Renzi said.
The emergency EU leaders summit ended late on Wednesday, agreeing to boost funding to the United Nations to help refugees. Other action agreed was increasing aid to host countries in the Middle East and help to Balkan states lying in the path of the biggest migration wave Europe has seen since World War II.
The EU leaders also agreed to ratchet up border controls, including using EU-backed border security personnel on the bloc's external frontiers.
The summit was held after governments clashed fiercely over a plan to relocate asylum-seekers around the EU.
On Tuesday, EU ministers backed mandatory quotas to divide up 120,000 refugees among members over the next two years, but the vote was passed only by majority and was strongly opposed by some nations.
The redistribution of refugees and EU management of repatriations of those whose asylum requests are rejected will start "by the end of November," Renzi said.
