Giorgia Meloni says Italy ready for "suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain" to defend borders

After nearly 49,000 migrants entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in a single day — a surge Spanish officials called the worst since at least 2021 and one that left at least 19 dead — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy was ready to take extraordinary border-security steps, including suspending Europe’s Schengen open-border arrangement with Spain. The crisis has strained EU relations. Meloni’s foreign minister accused Spain’s amnesty for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants of encouraging trafficking; Spain’s foreign minister called that inappropriate and said he would summon Italy’s ambassador. Spain and Morocco reinforced fences and appeared to halt crossings.