article_snippet.sent: But the Italian Navy and Coastguard proved expensive and politically contentious, and Europe was not prepared to help Italy shoulder the burden of the crisis.
article_snippet.sent: Without European support, the Italian government cut back the naval assets dedicated to rescuing migrants.
article_snippet.sent: Similarly, the opposition Northern League in Italy opposed Mare Nostrum, accusing Mare Nostrum of enticing migrants.
article_snippet.sent: Italy -- the European state whose territory is closest to Libya -- has borne the brunt of the task of picking up, sheltering and providing food and medical help to the illegal migrants.
article_snippet.sent: The islands of Sicily and of Lampedusa (which is closer to Tunisia than to mainland Italy) see an almost daily influx of human misery.
article_snippet.sent: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said the Mediterranean is a sea, not a cemetery.
article_snippet.sent: On Sunday, in the wake of the latest disaster, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi complained that Italy had been coping with the crisis in "near solitude, sometimes assisted by some other international presence.
article_snippet.sent: Italy has also led calls for an international peacekeeping issue to help restore stability in Libya, not least in an effort to tackle the flow of migrants, many of whom set out from around Misrata and other ports in the west of Libya.
article_snippet.sent: Others, including Italy, Greece, Spain and France, are expected to seek more concerted action in handling and funding the influx.
highlights_snippet.sent: Italy has borne brunt of task of picking up, sheltering and providing food and medical help to illegal migrants .