AssetID: 55908025
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Italy Condemns Spain's 'Unacceptable' Border Checks As Ceuta Row Escalates
Caption: Italy Condemns Spain's 'Unacceptable' Border Checks As Ceuta Row Escalates. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has condemned Spain's decision to impose checks on travellers from Italy as "incomprehensible and completely unacceptable.” Spain introduced spot checks on Saturday in retaliation for Italy imposing controls on travellers from Spain following the recent influx of about 72,000 people into Ceuta. Madrid said Italy's restrictions made little sense because the Ceuta border was already under control and most of those who crossed had been returned to Morocco. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called Italy's checks an attack on Spanish dignity and a threat to European unity. Tajani defended Italy's measures, saying Rome had a duty to protect its borders and would lift the restrictions when it believed the risk had passed. Tajani also criticised Spain's migration policies, arguing that its programme to regularise undocumented migrants sent a "negative message.” The EU has previously dismissed any connection between Spain's regularisation programme and the mass crossings into Ceuta. The dispute has deepened tensions between Giorgia Meloni's government in Italy and Pedro Sánchez's government in Spain over their approaches to migration. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: Current Affairs & Politics,Antonio Tajani,José Manuel Albares,Giorgia Meloni,Pedro Sánchez,Italy,Spain,Ceuta,border controls,migration,Schengen,European Union,Morocco,immigration,irregular migration,border checks
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