Italy’s border controls with Slovenia will also continue this month, Rome’s parliament minister has confirmed.
Authorities in Italy reintroduced police checks at the common border in its northeast as of October 21 for a period of ten days.
Such a decision came following the threat of violent actions increased in the EU due to the Israel-Hamas war and concerns related to the influx of irregular migrants.
The measure has been extended from October 31 for another 20 days, in agreement with the Slovenian and Croatian governments, but its duration will also depend on how the international scenarios evolve.
The Minister of the Interior of Italy, Matteo Piantedosi, said that the border controls were likely to be prolonged into next year, citing the risk of terrorists among migrants in the transit on the Balkan route.
Italy, Slovenia and Croatia became the latest European countries to introduce border controls, thus joining the list of other Schengen Zone countries that have imposed such measures.
Frontier checks by these three countries have been initiated amid security concerns in the Middle East.
Italy’s decision to continue controls at the common border with Slovenia until next year has been confirmed by the Interior Minister of Italy, Matteo Piantedosi.
According to the Minister, such a measure needs to be prolonged due to the risk of terrorists among the migrants in transit on the Balkan route.
Italian authorities-initiated border controls from October 21, which were set to remain effective until October 30.
However, in an interview for “Il Piccolo”, the Interior Minister emphasised that ten days of controls are insufficient, stressing that an extension is needed. The Minister also said that Italy will minimise the impact of such a decision together with authorities in Slovenia and Croatia.
Piantedosi said that since the beginning of this year, nearly 16,000 people reached Italy in an irregular way across the eastern border, noting that he scheduled a meeting with counterparts from Slovenia and Croatia on November 2 in order to discuss police cooperation.
In an effort to further strengthen cooperation in patrolling the borders along the Western Balkans route, the Interior Minister of Slovenia, Boštjan Poklukar, met with his counterparts from Italy, Matteo Piantedosi, and Croatia, Davor Božinović.
In a press conference after the meeting, Piantedosi said that data after ten days of reintroducing police checks on the internal Schengen borders resulted effective, stressing that the measure was implemented in Italy in a way that did not cause major problems for cross-border workers.
