Migrants: Italy extends the Schengen suspension with Spain. Madrid: ‘Shameful’
Spain, in turn, has responded by extending the border closure until 8 October. The Ministry of the Interior explains that the measure was deemed necessary following assessments carried out by the Committee for the Analysis of Immigration and Border Security
Diplomatic tensions are rising between Italia and Spain, triggered by the Ceuta crisis, with a war of words between representatives of the two governments. The Ministry of the Interior has announced a 15-day extension of air and sea border controls with Spain, as decided by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, “who communicated this in a note addressed to the European Commission and his counterparts across the EU”.
The Ministry of the Interior explains that the measure “was deemed necessary following the assessments carried out by the Committee for the Analysis of Immigration and Border Security, which met this morning. There remain, in fact, high levels of risk to internal security, as well as a potential threat linked to possible terrorist infiltration”.
Italia had suspended the Schengen agreements with Madrid for the first time on 31 July, following the influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.
Madrid’s response: ‘Shame on Italia’
Madrid’s response was firm, and it in turn notified the European Union of a similar decision: a fifteen-day extension of border controls at air and sea crossings between Spain and Italia. ‘The controls,’ the Spanish Ministry of the Interior stated, ‘were reintroduced by Spain on 8 August and extended for the first time until 23 September. The government considers that the circumstances which led to the adoption of this measure still exist and has therefore decided to extend it until 8 October, it being understood that a change in these circumstances may make it necessary to amend the specified deadline.”
“It is absurd, it is pointless and it is a disgrace because it undermines the spirit and philosophy of what it means to be European partners,” commented the Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, as reported by the Spanish press. According to the minister, the decision was taken on the basis of ‘domestic politics’: neither the Prime Minister nor Minister Tajani are behaving like ‘European leaders capable of rising to the occasion’.
