After Ceuta Crisis, Spain Urges Italy to Withdraw Border Checks

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska has called on Italy to immediately lift its border checks, which he described as pointless and disproportionate. The Spanish minister argued that entering the Spanish enclave of Ceuta does not grant automatic rights to enter the Schengen area, and crucially, that no threat to the Schengen zone had materialized from Ceuta.

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I ask that these additional control measures be immediately lifted, as they clearly do not correspond to what was recognized (during the EU ministers' video conference), namely that the Schengen area was not at risk.

"I ask that these additional control measures be immediately lifted, as they clearly do not correspond to what was recognized (during the EU ministers' video conference), namely that the Schengen area was not at risk," Marlaska stated after a video conference with EU interior ministers. He expressed confusion over Italy's decision, calling it "completely unnecessary and disproportionate."

Marlaska emphasized that there was no secondary movement risk because Ceuta has a special status, and Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, reported no danger to the Schengen area. He contrasted this with the secondary movement of people arriving in Spain from the East, noting that internal checks are not imposed in such cases.

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I did not understand why Italy closed the Schengen area; it seemed completely unnecessary and disproportionate to me.

In response, Italy's Interior Minister asserted that the temporary renewal of internal air and sea border controls for arrivals from Spain was not directed against Spain or any other partner. He characterized it as a "preventive and organizational decision" aimed at ensuring national security and the integrity of the European control system during a high-tension period. The minister also expressed "sincere solidarity" with the Spanish government.

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There was no risk of secondary movement because Ceuta has a special status, and Frontex itself reported that there was no risk to the Schengen area.

Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner responsible for internal affairs, announced that the European Commission would evaluate whether Italy's decision to suspend the Schengen agreement with Spain was a proportionate measure. He also commented on Spain's recent amnesty for over 600,000 irregular migrants, calling it a "bad signal," a sentiment echoed by Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

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It is a preventive and organizational decision aimed at ensuring national security and the integrity of the European control system during a high-tension period, as has already happened in many other cases.