President Sergio Mattarella said Friday Europe must act on migrants or risk being overwhelmed by the issue.
Speaking at a head of state informal meeting in Athens, Mattarella said "we need sustainable but common management of the phenomenon and not its removal, ducking the issue.
"The phenomenon," he added, "must be tackled in order to govern it otherwise it will overwhelm whatever equilibrium there is on our continent.
"The ignoble traffic of human beings, for our consciences, is a constant rebuke. "Unless it is taken on comprehensively no one will be able to resolve it but we will all have negative consequences".
Mattarella was speaking at the Arraiolos summit.
The Arraiolos Meeting is a multinational informal convention of both executive and non-executive presidents of European Union member states, held roughly once in a year.
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