RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Italy's political leaders have threatened to suspend their open border arrangement with Spain after thousands of migrants streamed into a tiny Spanish enclave bordering Morocco in an unfolding crisis that has left at least 18 dead.
Spain's Interior Ministry said on Friday that according to its estimates some 49,000 migrants had crossed into the enclave of Ceuta, according to Reuters.
Large crowds of people were seen breaching border fencing in Ceuta on Thursday, a migration flashpoint that is one of the European Union's only land borders with Africa.
Reacting to the scenes, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Italy was prepared to take "extraordinary measures," including "the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain ."
Schengen allows more than 450 million people to travel across participating European countries without routine passport checks at their shared borders. but can only be halted in exceptional circumstances.
Meloni said images from Ceuta demonstrated that "uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe ’s borders."
" Italy will not stand by and watch," Meloni said. "On illegal immigration, we will not yield an inch."
She pledged that her government would continue to defend Italy’s borders, combat human traffickers and pursue the repatriation of illegal migrants.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani went further, saying he was "in favor of closing the Schengen Area to Spain" and described irregular and uncontrolled immigration as a danger to national security.
Spain responded by summoning the Italian ambassador. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called Tajani’s message "unbecoming" of the foreign minister of a partner and friendly country, adding: "We expect European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery."
Albares said the events in Ceuta were connected to a court ruling—not the immigration policy cited by Tajani—and said the ambassador would be called in to answer for the remarks.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Tony Phillips
This is a developing story—more to follow.
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