Mrs Clinton has said the continent needs to find a better way to show that they are “not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support” when it comes to immigration. The former Democratic presidential candidate praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her generosity when it comes to her policies on immigration, but added that immigration was a major factor for the UK’s decision to leave the EU and the election of Donald Trump. She told the Guardian: “I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame.
“I admire the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like Angela Merkel.
“But I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message – ‘we are not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support’ – because if we don’t deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic.”
More than one million migrants and refugees arrived in the EU in 2015 with the EU struggling to form a unified position on immigration.
Countries, such as Germany, Italy and Greece, who have seen the most immigration have called for an even share of the burden, but some countries in central and eastern Europe have rejected the calls to allow refugees into their countries.
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Since 2015, the number of migrant entering the EU have dropped while multiple proposed initiatives have been tabled.
Mrs Clinton called on those opposed to populism to not ignore issues such as race and identity, two issues that she attributes to her loss to Donald Trump in 2016.
She said: “The use of immigrants as a political device and as a symbol of government gone wrong, of attacks on one’s heritage, one’s identity, one’s national unity has been very much exploited by the current administration here.
“There are solutions to migration that do not require clamping down on the press, on your political opponents and trying to suborn the judiciary, or seeking financial and political help from Russia to support your political parties and movements.”
Mrs Clinton described Brexit as one of the biggest acts of national economic self-harm that “was largely about immigration”.
The US Democrat also attacked Steve Bannon and his attempts to support populists in Europe.
She said: “Rome is the right place for him since it is bread and circuses and it’s as old as recorded history.
“Keep people diverted, keep them riled up appeal to their prejudices, give them a sense they are part of something bigger than themselves – while elected leaders and business leaders steal them blind.
“It’s a classic story and Bannon is the latest avatar of it.”