Italy and Spain lift border controls after months of tension over Ceuta
More than 70,000 people entered Ceuta irregularly from Morocco, triggering border security concerns in the EU bloc.
Italy and Spain have agreed to lift the border controls they imposed on each other's citizens, ending a three-month standoff that grew out of July's mass migrant crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
The decision was announced by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and follows a meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The ministers said the move came 'after a careful assessment of the situation' and would be accompanied by enhanced border cooperation.
Italy's right-wing government first suspended its open-border arrangements with Spain on July 31, saying it wanted to ensure that migrants entering Spain irregularly could not move on into Italy. Madrid responded with reciprocal controls, calling the Italian measures 'unjust' and contrary to European principles.
The tit-for-tat closures followed one of the largest irregular crossings in recent years: upwards of 70,000 people swam around barricades or crossed into Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31. Most returned to Morocco within hours, but thousands - including unaccompanied minors - have remained, many living in dire conditions at beach camps.
The crisis has had political fallout in both countries. In Spain, the government's handling of the crossing has complicated matters for Pedro Sanchez, who was already under fire from the far-right Vox and centre-right PP parties, which accused him of being soft on immigration.
Source: Al Jazeera English — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.