ROME, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Italy and Spain on Tuesday extended the suspension of the European Union’s border-free arrangement with each other for another 15 days, their interior ministries said.
Italy said the decision was taken because “significant risks to internal security persist, alongside a potential threat linked to possible terrorist infiltration”, the ministry said.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the circumstances that justified the measure remained in place, and that Madrid had therefore decided to maintain border controls with Italy until October 8.
Italy first suspended the Schengen arrangements with Madrid on July 31 in response to a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini in Rome and Emma Pinedo in Madrid; editing by Francesca Piscioneri and Charlie Devereux)
