Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has criticised the "hypocrisy" at the centre of the European Union after crisis talks between the two sides failed, Express reported.

Italian officials have demanded that its EU partners agree to accept the migrants, with deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio even threatening to withhold budget contributions to the EU.

This has triggered an escalating spat, with one European Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein claiming that "threats in Europe do not lead anywhere". 
In response, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte lashed out at his country's European partners, accussing them of "hypocrisy".

The Italian leader warned that this spat could spread into how Italy handles other EU issues.

He wrote on Facebook: "Italy is forced to take stock and acknowledge that Europe today has lost a good opportunity.

"At the urgently convened meeting of the European Commission, which has just ended, no follow-up was given to the conclusions of the last European Council at the end of June.

"Once again we see a discrepancy, which mutates into hypocrisy, between words and deeds."

Mr Conte added that Italy would take account of this and "act accordingly on all the questions we have to deal with in Europe".