(by Stefania Fumo).
President Sergio
Mattarella told U.S. journalists in Washington Tuesday that
Europe can't solve the migrant crisis by hiding behind national
borders, but through integration.
"It's an illusion to think you can solve your problems by
hunkering down inside national borders", he said at a working
breakfast with leading American journalists.
"Global problems can't be solved" this way, he said on what
is his third day of a United States visit that also included
lunch with Vice President Joe Biden and meetings with House
Speaker Paul Ryan, House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, and other
US lawmakers.
He was echoed by Premier Matteo Renzi, who said Europe's
very identity will be in danger if the Schengen border-free
system collapses in the face of the refugee crisis and the
threat of Islamic terrorism.
"I'm worried about the possibility that Schengen could
end," Renzi told Bloomberg News in an interview.
"The European identity is at risk without Schengen".
Renzi said the problem of asylum seekers will be the key
test for the European Union in the next 12 months.
"We need an agreement with the African countries to develop
infrastructures and invest in those places," Renzi said, warning
the European Union will not survive unless it changes direction.
"If Europe does not change its vision and its strategy, it
is finished," Renzi said, reiterating his call for the EU to
focus on growth and cut bureaucracy.
He also commented on the prospect of Britain voting to
exit the European Union in a referendum to be held before the
end of next year.
"A Brexit would be terrible for the United Kingdom but I'm
betting on (British Prime Minister) David (Cameron)," Renzi
said.
Cameron has said he will campaign for Britain to stay in the
Union if he gets an agreement on reforms and changes to the UK's
relationship with the EU.
"Europe without growth is destined to vanish, Europe
without values is destined to perish," Renzi wrote on his
e-newsletter later in the day.
"The European question...does not mean banging one's fists
on the table, but recalling Europe to its own destiny, its own
vocation," Renzi wrote.
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