EU 'won't leave Italy alone on migrants'

(ANSA) - Paris, June 29 - European Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos pledged Thursday that Italy will not be left alone to cope with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis. Italy took a formal step to protest the emergency with Brussels Wednesday and said that foreign ships may be stopped from docking in Italian ports unless the situation improves. Avramopoulos described the situation as "dreadful". "The most important thing is that the European Union won't leave Italy alone," he said.