Lingering doubts among European Union members on whether to take former Guantánamo Bay detainees appeared to be softening on Tuesday as Italy became the first EU country to make use of a framework for taking in former terror suspects held at the camp.

Italy’s acceptance of three inmates, who are Tunisian, came in the wake of an agreement signed on Monday between the EU and the US in which Europe said it was ready to help the US “turn the page” on Guantánamo.