Migrant phenomena 'set to last 10-15 years' Gentiloni says

(ANSA) - Milan, August 27 - Europe will have to deal with migration issues for the next 10 to 15 years using "solidarity and collaboration" instead of "hiding the problem," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.
    "You can't respond to the migratory phenomena by hiding the problem, closing yourself inside national frontiers or building walls, but for the next 10 to 15 years we will have to take this phenomenon into account with solidarity and in a collaborative way at the European level," Gentiloni told a debate on populism and xenophobia at the national Unità festival.
    Gentiloni said the climate at the EU level on immigration had changed positively after an EU summit held at Vienna Thursday even if the death of a number of migrants in a lorry in Austria recalled "the dramatic dimension of what is happening," indicating the need for "a European effort".
    "As far as Italy is concerned we have done what was possible and to who says we should do more I say that certainly we ought to do more but we are proud that Italy has contributed to saving tens of thousands of human lives," Gentiloni said, "and this allows us to go with head held high in international forums".