The Italian government is considering suspending the Schengen agreement with Spain following the migration crisis in Ceuta, according to sources from the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday.
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The agreement allows the free movement of people between European Union countries, and would allow the distribution of migrants throughout Europe if, as is possible, the collapse of facilities in Ceuta leads the Government to transfer them to the peninsula.
Throughout the afternoon, as images of the entries in Ceuta spread, Italian right-wing leaders hardened their tone against Pedro Sánchez, linking those arrivals with the extraordinary regularization of immigrants approved by the Spanish Government.
In particular, the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, wrote on his social networks: “I faced a judicial process for years, risking six years in prison, for protecting the borders of my country. Sánchez, no.” He closed his message with a slogan: “Suspend Schengen. Defend the borders.”
Soon after, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, also intervened: “I am in favor of closing the Schengen area with Spain and I have full confidence in the actions of the Interior Minister. Irregular and uncontrolled immigration represents a danger to national security.”
Tajani, confusing regularization with granting citizenship, added: “The images coming from Ceuta show that the Madrid Government’s decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to more than 500,000 immigrants in an irregular situation is deeply wrong and encourages human trafficking.”
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