Italy urges EU to avert collapse of passport-free travel zone

ATHENS (Reuters) - Italy's foreign minister urged European leaders on Thursday to tackle the continent's migration crisis and avert a potential collapse of the free-travel Schengen zone, hours before they meet on the issue in Brussels. EU ministers have given Greece three months to fulfill a set of recommendations to slow the influx of migrants or face other members of the passport-free zone imposing checks on their frontiers for up to two years. Some states, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, said this week that there should be tighter controls on the borders of Balkan countries neighbouring Greece if attempts to limit the numbers arriving in Greece from Turkey failed. "We anticipate that, albeit belatedly, Europe will multiply its commitments" to resolve the migration crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni during a visit to Athens. "Unilateral actions that will lead to the collapse of the Schengen treaty must be avoided," he said in comments translated into Greek, urging countries to avoid actions that could have an "irreversible impact" on the European Union and Schengen. Italy has also been on the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis, along with Greece. It has agreed to contribute to a 3 billion euro European Union fund to help Turkey tackle the European migration crisis, dropping objections blocking implementation of the plan. (Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Hugh Lawson)