Austria outlined plans on Wednesday to erect a fence at a border crossing with Italy that is a vital link between Northern and Southern Europe, escalating a standoff between the two states over how to handle a migration crisis.
Migrants are crossing the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy in growing numbers and Austria has said Rome must stop them traveling onward toward Northern Europe or it will have to introduce border controls at the Brenner Pass in the Alps.
But with Austrian preparations for controls already underway, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Austria's move was "shamelessly against European rules, as well as being against history, against logic and against the future.