Italy suspends Schengen travel with Spain over Ceuta crisis

Italy turns its back on Spain: suspends Schengen over the Ceuta crisis

Italy shares no land border with Spain, but it has just suspended the Schengen agreement that allows travel without checks between the two countries. The measure, announced this Friday, turns the Ceuta migration crisis into a first-rate EU-wide problem. The Italian Interior Ministry has not only activated checks on flights and ships from Spain: it has also struck a deal with Paris to reinforce the Franco-Italian border. In other words, the Ceuta problem is being answered in the Alps.

The migration standoff straining the EU

The mass arrival of migrants from Segarro into the enclave of Ceuta has drawn criticism from a dozen partner countries. Rome has decided not to wait for Brussels and has made its own move. The suspension will affect air and sea travellers, but the most significant gesture is the agreement with France to seal the land border. The message is clear: the management of Spain's southern border is no longer seen as an internal matter.

Mixed reactions and an awkward question

Some argue that Spain has shown a chronic inability to control its borders and that the rest of the EU has the right to protect itself. There are also those demanding political accountability from the Spanish government. On the opposite side, the argument goes that Italy is acting out of self-interest, not solidarity, and that the reinforcement of the Franco-Italian border is aimed squarely at the unaccompanied foreign minors who enter through Spain and continue on towards France. The question hangs in the air: if Italy and France seal their borders, what will Spain do with the pressure building up in Ceuta? And, above all, how long will Schengen hold before every country opts for its own fence?