“I believe that some assessments should be made on the issue of controlling who enters and arrives, particularly on the Balkan route”. The input arrived during the mission in Mozambique. In Maputo Giorgia Meloni, analyzing the general scenario linked to the crisis in the Middle East, drew attention to irregular migratory flows also coming from the Balkan route in reference to the risk of possible terrorist infiltration. And less than a week after that observation, the Prime Minister went from words to actions. In fact, the government decided to reintroduce controls at internal land borders with Slovenia, based on article 28 of the Schengen Borders Code. “We communicated with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi at European level about the Italian Government’s decision to restore controls on the border between Italy and Slovenia – explained Meloni via social media -. The suspension of the Schengen Treaty on free movement in Europe became necessary due to the worsening situation in the Middle East, the increase in migratory flows along the Balkan route and, above all, for reasons of national security, and I take full responsibility that’s why. We spoke about this with our Slovenian colleagues, to whom we renewed our full collaboration in combating the flow of illegal migrants.”
In a note, Palazzo Chigi highlighted that “the intensification of crisis outbreaks on Europe’s borders, in particular after the attack against Israel, has increased the level of threat of violent actions also within the Union”. The reference is to the recent attacks that occurred in France and Belgium. A situation, the note reads, “further aggravated by the constant migratory pressure to which Italy is subject, by sea and land (140 thousand arrivals on Italian coasts, +85% compared to 2022). In the region alone, since the beginning of the year, 16 thousand people have been identified who entered the national territory illegally”.
In recent weeks, the governor of the Region, Massimiliano Fedriga, denounced the phenomenon, describing it as “surreal” because the migrants “cross two European countries, Croatia and Slovenia, both within the scope of Schengen, and arrive in Italy. Are they only valid for entries from the Mediterranean and not from elsewhere? I think that European borders must be controlled.” A line also adopted by the government, which thus resorted to the emergency procedure governed by article 28 of the Schengen Code, due to the need to immediately reestablish controls since “police measures at the border The measure will be implemented from next Saturday for a period of 10 days. Any subsequent extensions may also extend for periods of 20 days each, up to a maximum total of 2 months. Once this limit is reached, it will be possible to activate the ordinary procedure, extending the Schengen suspension for another 4 months, up to a total of 6 months.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
