Italy has extended by another week its suspension of the European Union’s border-free travel arrangements with Spain over a surge in migrant arrivals in Ceuta in late July, an Italian government source said on Friday.
– A Spanish government spokesperson said the interior ministers of both countries would work over the coming week on lifting the border controls.
– The latest extension by Italy aligns with the countermeasure taken by Madrid, which recently extended its own Schengen suspension with Rome until October 22.
– Italy first suspended Schengen arrangements with Spain on July 31, in response to a border rush by more than 72,000 migrants into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, and has repeatedly prolonged the measure.
– Rome has argued the presence of thousands of illegal migrants in the Spanish territory posed significant risks to internal security and represented a potential threat of terrorist infiltration.
– Madrid has described Italy’s actions as “unjust, contrary to European Union interests, and discriminatory to the population of Spain”.
– The Spanish government spokesperson said the upcoming talks between the interior ministers followed a conversation between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the European Council summit this week.
– The Italian government source said only that the ministers would in the coming days explore alternative forms of cooperation between the two countries.