Alfano asks to put Albania on EU migrant agenda (2)

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 10 - Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Thursday he had asked his EU counterparts to put Albania on the European agenda as a possible strategic partner to stop migrants coming across the Balkans. "I asked that the issue of Albania not be only an Italian issue. We can't only deal with it on our own, bilaterally with Albania," he said after the EU meeting, which was largely devoted to the migrants crisis. "Albania can be a strategic partner of Europe in addressing the Balkans question". With the so-called Balkan route shut because of border closures, migrants and refugees are expected to turn southwestwards and try and get across the Adriatic to Italy via Albania.