Spain threatens retaliation if Italy fails to lift border controls after Ceuta crossings
Spain has threatened to impose counter-measures on Italy if it fails to lift border controls introduced following the mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish
Spain has threatened to impose counter-measures on Italy if it fails to lift border controls introduced following the mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. Roughly 78,000 migrants from neighbouring Morocco arrived in Ceuta by sea in a matter of hours on Thursday and Friday last week.
In the wake of the crossings, which saw around 100 people die, Italy partially suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, which included the closure of maritime and air entry points as well as the reinforcement of land border controls. On Friday, Spain called the move "unjustified" and "discriminatory against the Spanish population" and demanded it be reversed by Sunday 9 August.
It added it would introduce "proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens" if Italy failed to reverse its decision. The statement did not specify what these reprisals would be. Italy promptly responded to Spain's warning,
saying it would not accept "ultimatums or impositions" from Madrid and that it plans to keep border checks in place until at least 15 August - when it said Spain "expected a new wave of migration" to hit Ceuta.
The BriefWire