Ministers from 17 European countries gathered in Rome to show support for Italian Minister for Integration Cecile Kyenge, who was subject to various racist attacks from her parliamentary colleagues in the short time she has been minister.

Minister Helena Dalli said that while it is important to condemn racism and xenophobia, and openly support the victims, it is equally important to “attempt to understand in order to be able to work on eradicating what is at the root of such phenomena”. She said that politicians must first understand the sources of the problem.

Minister Dalli said that there needs to be a co-ordination of migrants’ reception policy across the EU. She said that when migrants enter a country which is a member of Schengen, they enter the Schengen Area. Dr Dalli said that she agreed with Minister Kyenge when she said that immigrants coming to Europe seeking a better life “should not only be the responsibility of the country where they land and submit their application as asylum seekers, but of all the countries in the Schengen area”.

Minister Dalli said that Cecile Kyenge’s appointment as Italy’s first afro-Italian cabinet minister is in itself positive. She said that with her appointment, the Italian government has sent a clear message of change.

Speaking after integration ministers signed the declaration, named as the ‘Rome Declaration’, Cecile Kyenge thanked her counterparts for the “strong and important response” to the string of jibes and threats that have blighted her first five months in office.

While speaking to journalists who put questions to the ministers present Dr Dalli stressed that the political class had a duty to set the right example. It is unacceptable that a minister makes racist remarks. If this is the way the political class speaks and acts we should not be surprised that racism is fuelled and filters down all levels of society.

In the Rome Declaration the European ministers stated that “the fight against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia is the responsibility of us all and that we as political leaders have special responsibility to show leadership in this fight through our words and actions”. The declaration goes on to say that “EU Member States need to show mutual solidarity with each other to concretely address this reality”.

The ministerial meeting was held at Palazzo Chigi in Rome.