Italy's Schengen Suspension with Spain Not a Condemnation, Says Interior Minister

ROME, August 4. /TASS/. Italy’s suspension of Schengen free-movement rules at its border with Spain is a temporary measure and is not a condemnation of Madrid or its government, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said during an emergency videoconference with his European Union counterparts, a meeting Rome requested in response to the migration crisis in Ceuta. "This measure [the suspension of the Schengen Agreement] is not directed against Spain or any other partner country. It is a preventive decision aimed at better safeguarding national security and maintaining control of the situation within the EU," the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted the minister as saying. According to the newspaper, Piantedosi proposed a "new approach" under which migrants would be accommodated at centers in third countries, an idea recently reported by the media. "We must act together as a united bloc and apply new models for managing migration flows. First, we must prevent migrants from departing and deport those who have no right to asylum," the minister said. Countries being considered as possible locations for temporary migrant centers reportedly include the states of Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana, as well as Tunisia and Libya, and even Uzbekistan and Armenia. Italy previously signed a bilateral agreement to establish an Italian-run migrant center in Albania, but opposition from the Italian judiciary has so far prevented it from becoming operational. Italian sources told TASS that countries such as Tunisia and Libya were unwilling to establish temporary reception centers on their territory. "These are currently transit countries from which migrants travel to Europe. Establishing such centers would turn them into migrant-hosting countries, and they do not want that," a source explained. In late July, tens of thousands of undocumented migrants reached the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta by swimming or walking around the breakwater separating it from Morocco. Amid the crisis, Spanish authorities deployed the military to help maintain security in the city. According to the Spanish government, at least 72 people died while trying to reach Ceuta, while Rabat reported 11 deaths. Italy temporarily suspended the Schengen Agreement with Spain, prompting diplomatic tensions between the two countries.