(Brussels) “Dear colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the dramatic and unsustainable situation that Italy is currently facing with regard to migration flows”. This letter from the office of MEP Patrizia Toia was dispatched to the offices of other 750 MEPs. “Over the past 48 hours, as many as 12,000 migrants have been rescued. If this trend continues, 220,000 will be saved by the end of the year. The situation is no longer sustainable. Such a large number of arrivals in such a short time – wrote Ms Toia, head of delegation for the Democratic Party in Brussels and Strasbourg – undermines our ability to manage the landings, and the Italian Government is considering the possibility of closing its ports to all boats not carrying Italian flags”. The issue is being discussed in these hours at the European Parliament and in other European institutions as well as at the Summit in Berlin ahead of the G20. Ms Toia has called on her MEP colleagues from other 27 EU countries to show “the solidarity of your country and government by complying with the commitments made with regard to the relocation and sharing of responsibilities in the face of new and continuous arrivals, for we believe that Europe’s future also depends on our ability to address this dramatic situation”. “We, Italians, call for joint responsibility and the principle of solidarity – the letter concludes – which are the founding values of the European Union”.