Italy has been on the frontline of the migration crisis, with thousands of asylum seekers continuing to reach its coastline every month.

Nearly 100,000 – the vast majority of those coming over to Europe – have arrived in Italy since the start of this year. The Italian government can be forgiven for showing the strain, with foreign minister Angelino Alfano telling a German newspaper over the weekend that "we cannot cope with this burden alone". When asked if he felt Italy had been abandoned by other European Union member states, Signor Alfano said: "A very clear yes".

The ideal solution, in his view, would have been if European members had agreed on a way – proposed by the Commission – to share the migratory burden with each other. But some, like Hungary and Bulgaria, kicked up a fuss. Instead, Signor Alfano said, the only solution to curbing the number of migrants "is in Libya".