Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani believes that Spain’s reaction to also suspend the Schengen free movement treaty, introducing border controls as Italy had done after what happened in Ceuta, is “incomprehensible and totally unacceptable.”
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“We suspended the Schengen area, as required by the Treaties, because something extraordinary happened in Ceuta,” Tajani said in an interview published this Sunday in the newspaper La Stampa.
“Even today, the mayor (of Ceuta, Juan Jesús) Vivas states that between 8,000 and 11,000 migrants remain there. And thousands are sub-Saharan Africans who cannot be repatriated. What is incomprehensible and totally unacceptable is Spain’s reaction,” Tajani said, despite the Ceuta government having lowered the number of people remaining there to between 3,000 and 5,000.
Risk of a new wave in mid-August
Tajani reiterated that the decision was made because according to “Spanish intelligence services, there is a risk of a new wave in mid-August, and not lifting the measure is a precaution.”
“We hope to be able to lift the suspension soon, as soon as the risk has disappeared. It is (Pedro) Sánchez who has dramatized,” asserted the minister and leader of Forza Italia.
When asked if the “measure is symbolic” since Ceuta is not part of the Schengen area, the Italian government’s vice president also stated that Spain is indeed in that area and that “the risk, as also noted by the Spanish press, lies in the migratory movements of non-Moroccan people.”
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“Where do they go after arriving in Spain? Italy, as a destination, is the most exposed country. We are not Germany or Norway,” he indicated.
“It is necessary to put things in order: we are not against Spain, but we have the duty to protect our borders. And there is no doubt that the arrival of people from sub-Saharan Africa poses a jihadist threat. The Spanish police themselves have arrested suspicious individuals,” added the head of Italian diplomacy.
The minister again regretted Spain’s decision, stating that “the Schengen area cannot be revoked simply as retaliation, without any reason, harming tourism.”
Tajani reiterated his criticism of the migrant regularization carried out in recent months in Spain, stating that “it sends a negative message that puts everyone’s security at risk,” and assured that this “concern is shared by all of Europe.”
When asked if in a crisis the principle of European solidarity should be activated, Tajani said: “Defending our borders does not mean putting Europe at risk, something that happens with indiscriminate reception.”
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