‍“Political changes in some member states, including Germany, Italy -- even Austria -- give a very strong dynamic driving force for the rising of this refugee and migration issue,” said Cui Hongjian, the director of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

His comment came after the settlement of the dispute between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior minister Horst Seehofer over the country’s migration policy, ending a potential collapse of the coalition government. According to the agreement, Merkel will tighten controls at the Austrian border to stop people who have applied for asylum in other EU countries from entering Germany; and transit centers would be set up to hold them until they could be sent back.

Cui also illustrated the political changes which are taking place in some European countries, using Italy as an example.

“Two or three years ago, the Italian government did a lot to help the settlement of refugees and migration issues in Europe... But at this moment, these so-called 'anti-establishment' parties take the power from the government, and try to change the logic from humanitarian assistance to very realistic national interests."

Fraser Cameron, a senior adviser at the European Policy Centre, shared his ideas on potential solutions to the migration issue. He considered it important to change the general regulations in the long term, and emphasized that the whole of Europe should cooperate and consolidate to solve the issue.

“I don’t think there is likely to be a change in the Dublin Regulations (under which the country where a migrant first arrives has to process their asylum claim) anytime soon, but I think rationally there should be because it’s simply unfair to expect the countries along the Mediterranean including Greece, Italy and Spain to take the largest proportion of migrants without other EU countries doing their fair bit. So in the medium term, there has to be a European solution… Longer term, we do have to change the Dublin Regulation.”

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9.30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5.30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10.30 a.m. (0230GMT).