The European Union’s internal crisis over border controls has intensified, with Spain responding to Italy’s decision to suspend its free movement agreement with the country with new border checks on Italians.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The Italian government has criticized Spain’s decision to impose border checks on people arriving from Italy, after Italy temporarily suspended free movement with Spain in response to the Ceuta migrant crisis. 📺 DETAIL: After Italy temporarily suspended its Schengen Area agreement with the country, Spain checked 199 travelers on 12 flights arriving from Italy at six major airports. The Schengen Area is an open borders zone comprised of 29 European countries, the overwhelming majority of which are members of the European Union (EU), in which internal passport checks are abolished. However, member states are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls for national security reasons. Spain’s border controls are set to remain in place until September 7. Italy’s government has characterized Spain’s response as “disproportionate.” Notably, Italy’s decision to suspend passport-free movement with Spain only applied to non-EU citizens arriving by air or sea. “We hope to be able to lift the suspension soon, as soon as there is no longer any risk,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “Ceuta is not [in the] Schengen area but a Spanish exclave, Spain is [in the Schengen area]. The risk, as the Spanish press also says, is the secondary movements of non-Moroccans. Where do they go after arriving in Spain? Italy, as a destination, is the most exposed country. We are not Germany or Norway. About 15 illegal immigrants have already been stopped in Italy. Not to mention that among the migrants there were some who had previously been expelled for jihadism,” said Foreign Minister Tajani. 🎯 IMPACT: This back-and-forth between Spain and Italy underscores the growing instability of the EU’s open borders regime. Under EU rules, member states must agree to the Free Movement of People, with minimal immigration controls. As such, incidents like the crisis at Ceuta have major knock-on effects for other EU countries. The crisis reflects contradicting approaches to border control within the EU, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni favoring immigration restriction while far-left Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez favors liberalizing border controls, including giving mass amnesty to illegal migrants. 📺 FLASHBACK: Thousands of illegal migrants continue to remain in Ceuta, a Spanish exclave bordering Morocco in North Africa, after approximately 70,000 illegal migrants breached the border in late July. |
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