Ceuta: Italy extends border checks with Spain; the Schengen suspension remains in place
Interior Minister Piantedosi has extended border controls at air and sea crossings with Spain by a further 15 days following the migration crisis in the exclave. Madrid is set to grant a further extension to the checks. The dossier has been referred to the GAI Council, whilst the Home Office is stepping up efforts regarding the CPDR and repatriations
Key points
The immigration alert remains in place in Ceuta. And Italy is still not reopening its borders. In a brief statement, the Ministry of the Interior announced Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi’s decision to extend border controls at air and sea crossings with Spain for a further 15 days. In short: the suspension of the Schengen Agreement remains in place.
This is the third extension since the migration crisis erupted at the end of July, when around 60,000 migrants arrived in the Spanish exclave, many of whom were young Moroccans and Algerians, with an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 of them being minors. The suspension of free movement stems from a specific policy directive by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and has already provoked discontent amongst the Spanish government and a large number of EU countries.
Ceuta: third extension of border controls
The Ministry of the Interior has now confirmed this position following yesterday morning’s meeting of the Committee for the Analysis of Immigration and Border Security. According to the statement, the extension was decided ‘after consulting the Committee for the Analysis of Immigration and Border Security’.
Ultimately, the ‘aim remains to strengthen the protection of Europe’s borders, not least to safeguard national security, as well as to prevent and counter potential terrorist threats’. The measure has been notified to the European Commission and to the interior ministries of the other European Union member states.
Spain’s response and the new confrontation with Madrid
The Spanish government has decided to extend checks on passengers arriving from Italia for a further 15 days, on the basis of reciprocity. The decision has been confirmed by sources at the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. The Spanish checks, introduced on 8 August and extended several times since then, apply to sea and air travel by third-country nationals arriving from Italia. At this stage, Madrid’s counter-move seems inevitable. Spain first introduced checks on travellers from Italia on 8 August, in response to Rome’s initial measure, and may now extend them beyond 7 October.
