Italy sets security conditions for lifting Schengen suspension with Spain

Italy will maintain its temporary suspension of the Schengen Agreement with Spain for the time being, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on August 13, as tensions between the two countries continued following a migrant crisis in Ceuta, ANSA reports.

Piantedosi told a hearing of the parliamentary Schengen Committee that the decision would not be reconsidered before August 15 and would only be lifted once security risks to Italy had been fully ruled out.

“The Ceuta case is not a political manoeuvre against Spain,” Piantedosi said, arguing that the suspension was based on security assessments and intelligence warnings, including concerns over possible jihadist infiltration.

The Italian government introduced temporary controls on travellers arriving from Spain almost two weeks ago following a sharp increase in migration in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on Morocco’s northern coast. Although the number of migrants there has since fallen significantly, Rome says security concerns have not yet been completely resolved.

Piantedosi said the renewed checks had so far resulted in three arrests and the refusal of entry to 21 third-country nationals deemed to be in Italy illegally, including six Moroccan citizens. He acknowledged, however, that it was not possible to determine whether those individuals had come from Ceuta because migrants in the enclave had not been identified.

Spain has responded by introducing additional checks on passengers arriving from Italy. Spanish authorities said on August 13 that police had checked 3,115 travellers from third countries arriving on 273 flights from Italy.

Piantedosi described Madrid’s measures as retaliatory, while pointing to similar border controls imposed by other European countries. He cited Germany’s controls on its borders and France’s continued checks on several internal EU borders, including its frontier with Italy.

Despite the dispute, Piantedosi said he expected cooperation with his Spanish counterpart to continue. The two ministers are due to meet in Italy in September at a Med5 meeting focused on migration and asylum policy.

The Italian government has also defended its broader migration policy. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a social-media video that her government would continue deportations of irregular migrants.

According to figures cited by Piantedosi, arrivals by sea to Italy have fallen by 55% since January, while repatriations have almost doubled. He also said 256 expulsions had been carried out since October 2022.

The government's approach has drawn criticism from the opposition. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein accused Meloni of using anti-migrant rhetoric, while M5S senator Elisa Pirro questioned the practical basis for the measures, noting that Italy and Spain do not share a land border.

Angelo Bonelli, leader of the Greens and Left Alliance, said official Frontex data contradicted the government's assessment.

The dispute also comes amid wider disagreements within the EU over responsibility for migrants who arrive through one member state before moving to another. Germany has announced that it will resume transfers to Italy of migrants covered by the EU's Dublin rules.

For now, Rome has made clear that the Schengen suspension will remain in place beyond 15 August unless the government determines that the security concerns linked to the Ceuta crisis have been fully resolved.

By Aghakazim Guliyev