Italy and other European states have been 'left alone' while few countries have worked together to manage migration, foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said on Friday.
"We are still in a situation where countries are being left alone (to handle the migrant influx of recent years)," Moavero said.
"Few nations are cooperating to find a solution," he told 'The Future of Europe' conference at Rome's Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
States should work together to forge a common European migration policy and start to help migrants' countries of origin to achieve peace and democracy, halting the exodus to Europe, Moavero argued.
"This should tackle socio-economic conditions with real investments and should combat human trafficking and share burden of migrant arrivals," he said.
The European Union's lack of or delayed response to such major crises has fuelled "disaffection" among EU citizens as well as "widespread and growing fears," Moavero argued.
