Italy prolongs Schengen suspension with Spain by another week

Italy prolongs Schengen suspension with Spain by another week

Italy ​has extended ​by a further week ‌its suspension ​of the European Union's border-free arrangement with Spain, ‌an Italian government source said on Friday. The extension aligns Italy with the countermeasure taken ‌by Madrid, which has suspended its own ‌Schengen arrangements with Rome until October 22.

In the coming days the Italian and Spanish interior ministers ⁠will ​work ⁠to explore alternative forms of cooperation, the source added. Italy ⁠first suspended Schengen arrangements with Spain on July ​31 and has repeatedly prolonged the ⁠measure, in response to a mass surge in ⁠migrant ​arrivals into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.

Madrid criticised the ⁠move in August, describing Italy's actions as "unjust, contrary ⁠to ⁠European Union interests and discriminatory to the population of Spain".

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