Migrant situation is not explosive, it has exploded says Tajani

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 18 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that the situation regarding the arrival of migrants from Africa "is not explosive, it has already exploded".
    Speaking to reporters at the Italian consulate in New York, Tajani said he intended to raise the issue of migratory pressure from Africa at the 2023 UN General Assembly.
    "The are no walls that are capable of halting the movement of millions and millions of people," he said.
    "Look at the history of the Barbarian Invasions - the Roman army, the most powerful in military history, could not stop them".
    On Sunday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Lampedusa with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni after being invited to the Italian island to see the situation for herself.
    Over 127,000 migrants have entered Italy so far this year, approximately twice as many as in the same period in 2022, according to interior ministry data. Many of them enter via Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island.
    Meloni has said the surge in migrant arrivals has put Italy under "unsustainable pressure".
    On Sunday von der Leyen presented a 10-point action plan for Lampedusa, including a possible new EU naval mission in the Mediterranean.
    Tajani has said that even the EU is not capable of addressing the issue on its own and has called for the involvement of the UN and NATO: (ANSA).