Italy wants European action to stem surging migration from Tunisia and to put the issue high on the next European Union justice and interior ministers meeting agenda, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.
"We will certainly pose the problem at the Justice and Internal Affairs Council because the Tunisian situation risks becoming ever-more complicated, with the danger of ever-more migration," Tajani told reporters.
"This can't just be an Italian problem, it has to be a European one too," Tajani said on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
"All countries should know of this emergency," Tajani said, noting that he had spoken of it "at length" with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
"We are monitoring what's happening extremely closely, because we need European action. Borrell is open to debate and to finding solutions," he said.
"He is also willing to go to Tunisia to see what can be done to stem this influx of migrants which very, very worrying for Italy," Tajan said.
A total 12,096 migrants have reached Italy from North Africa this year so far, almost triple the number during the same period of 2020, according to interior ministry figures. Along with Libya, Tunisia is the main departure point for migrant boats.
