(ANSA) - KRIMML - The other EU member States need to support Italy in meeting the migration challenge, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen told ANSA during the Alpine Peace Crossing in remembrance of the exodus of over 5,000 Jews from Austria to Italy in 1947 on Monday.

"The situation in Italy will not be tolerable in the long term with the arrivals from Libya in particular," Van der Bellen said. "In the short term the other EU member States need to give support to Italy, both in terms of providing reception and in terms of meeting the costs," he added.

"In the medium term … we need to reach agreements with African States so that these people do not feel the need to risk their life by crossing the sea on dinghies. I can't see any other way out," Van der Bellen said. "There have been refugees in the past as there are today.

Every wave of refugees has its origins, its reasons and different connotations. The participants in today's peace march are aware that it is not just a question of remembering 1947 and what came before, but that it is also a commitment to the refugees of today. We must do everything we can to help them," he concluded. (ANSA).