"Ready to act"

Italy Wants to Expel Spain from the Schengen Area

The rush on the port city created a state of emergency in Ceuta.(Bild: Krone-Collage/X, AFP/TOM NICHOLSON)

Following the influx of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, Italy has now demanded consequences. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni expressed her readiness to take “extraordinary measures.” According to estimates, tens of thousands of migrants may have reached Ceuta.  

On Thursday, Meloni described the images from Ceuta as “shocking” on the online platform X. “Italy will not stand idly by,” she announced. Her government is in the process of “bringing together the relevant authorities” to discuss Spain’s temporary exclusion from the Schengen Agreement. “As soon as these meetings are concluded, we are ready to act,” Meloni stated.  

Border controls only a “measure of last resort”
Border controls may only be reintroduced in absolutely exceptional cases. A suspension of the Schengen Agreement is considered a “measure of last resort” when no other instruments are available. The total duration may not, in principle, exceed a period of six months. 

Foreign Minister Tajani Sees “Threat to National Security”
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had previously made similar remarks to those of his prime minister. “I am in favor of closing the Schengen Area to Spain,” he stated on X. He justified the demand by citing “irregular and uncontrolled immigration,” which he said posed “a threat to national security.”

Ceuta Under a State of Emergency
According to estimates from police sources, more than 49,000 people from North Africa may have reached Ceuta in recent days—mostly by swimming. At least 16 people have already been recovered from the water, dead. In the exclave of Melilla, too, hundreds of migrants have recently crossed the border.

About 400 people entered the area by land via two border crossings from Morocco and across a dam in the south of the city, the president of the autonomous city, Juan José Imbroda, told the radio station Cope on Thursday evening. Security forces kept the situation under control. According to media reports, there had previously been rumors that the border to Ceuta was to be opened early Thursday morning.

On Thursday night and into Friday morning, hundreds of young migrants spent the night on the streets of Ceuta, as reported by the newspaper “El País.” Many of them were wearing almost nothing. According to the report, hundreds more people crossed the border during the night and on Friday morning. According to media reports, the central government in Madrid ordered the deployment of army units stationed in Ceuta to support border officials. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is traveling to the area on Friday.

Madrid: Expecting Solidarityfr
 Meanwhile, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Luis Albares accused his Italian counterpart of exploiting immigration for political purposes. Such statements are “inappropriate” for “a friendly partner country.” Madrid expects “European solidarity, not partisan demagoguery” from Rome.

Criticism of Migration Policy from Austria
There have also been reactions from Austria: Minister for European Affairs and Integration Claudia Bauer (ÖVP) planned to speak by phone with her Spanish counterpart, Fernando Mariano Sampedro Marcos, on Friday afternoon. ÖVP Member of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl stated: “The images from Spain are deeply troubling. They are the result of a completely misguided migration policy by the Spanish government.” FPÖ Member of the European Parliament Petra Steger described the events as “a complete admission of failure on the part of European migration policy.”