Italy's Interior Ministry has ordered the closure of the country's sea and air borders with Spain, temporarily suspending the Schengen free movement regime between the two countries.
The move was announced on Thursday evening by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini following the arrival of thousands of migrants in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta.
"The temporary suspension of Schengen with Spain is a necessary choice to safeguard the security of our citizens and defend the European borders. A measure provided for by the treaties and made unavoidable today," Tajani wrote on X.
"The migrant crisis in Ceuta reminds us that the management of the Union’s borders is a shared responsibility among our countries, one toward the other. We must work together to prevent uncontrolled migrant flows from entering EU territory, with all the consequent risks and the threat of terrorism, which must be countered without hesitation."
The decision was formally approved on Friday morning during a meeting at the Interior Ministry chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, based on assessments by Italy's Committee for Migration Analysis and Border Security.
