Passport checks between Spain and Italy
Spain and Italy have imposed border controls on each other's air and sea traffic. Initially, Rome had suspended free movement with Spain for one month in reaction to the influx of migrants into Ceuta – even though the African exclave is not part of the Schengen Area. Madrid then issued an ultimatum demanding that the decision be reversed, but because Italy has not backed down, Spain has now also introduced controls on its side.
This could divide the EU Commission
El Mundo says the Spanish leader is needlessly fuelling discord:
“Sánchez's reaction is only making Meloni's mistake worse. Following her unjustified decision, the government decided to respond first with an ultimatum and then with reciprocity. ... Sánchez's tendency to project domestic political interests onto foreign policy is also exacerbating the conflict. His insistence on portraying himself as a bulwark against the far right and Trumpism has fuelled a confrontation with the European allies that leaves him looking like an unreliable partner and thus diminishes Spain's influence. ... Brussels fears that the confrontation will spill over into the Commission and undermine the balance that exists there between the conservatives and the social democrats.”
Countering Meloni's staged nationalism
Political scientist Anna López justifies Spain's reaction in Eldiario.es:
“Meloni is no longer simply practising the 'trivial' nationalism of flags. ... She has taken another step towards a performative form of nationalism designed to demonstrate strength, identify external enemies and mobilise a section of the population for the elections. ... Had the Sánchez government remained passive, it would have tacitly accepted that any country can restrict Schengen with Spain under the pretext of a supposed threat to national security, even if the facts do not support this. The reciprocity is not meant to escalate the conflict, but to safeguard the equal rights of member states and one of the cornerstones of European integration: free movement of persons.”
Gradual disintegration of the EU
The conflict highlights how damaging nationalism can be, La Repubblica argues:
“Blinded and organised by Trumpism, the post-Western right has resurrected the idea of the nation from the graveyard of 20th-century history. ... And now, having severed the bonds of community and solidarity, they are calling for borders and reinstating controls, while at the same time stoking the fears of the people from whom they extort consent in return for feigned protection. But when one state takes sides against another – especially when it does so for reasons of ideological confrontation – escalation begins. And mechanisms of action and reaction are set in motion which, little by little, may end up destroying the Union.”
Europe's strength is its internal bonds
De Morgen criticises that in crises like the one in Ceuta, calls for stronger nation states grow louder, which plays into the hands of opponents such as Russia and Trump:
“A Europe in which countries speak mainly for themselves is easier to put under pressure than a unified bloc. The trade war has shown why. ... Europe is in danger of falling behind, not because there is too much Europe but because there is still not enough Europe. Politically speaking, the United States of Europe is nothing but a utopia; economically speaking, it is absolutely logical.”