“The suspension of the Schengen Treaty on free movement in Europe has become necessary due to the worsening situation in the Middle East, the increase in migratory flows along the Balkan route and, above all, due to national security issues,” Meloni said on social media.
“I take full responsibility for this.”
Meanwhile, Italian President Sergio Mattarella has said a sense of responsibility is needed over the Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars and the EU must be influential in both conflicts.
His comments came at the awards ceremony for the new Knights of Labour entrepreneurs at the presidential Quirinale Palace on Wednesday.
“History calls us to an hour of responsibility,” he said.
“The Russian aggression in Ukraine, the barbaric attack by Hamas against Israel with the spiral of violence that ensued from it, the destabilisation that risks involving the whole Middle East - to remain solely in the area of the wider Mediterranean - demand a Europe able to exert its positive influence.
“[These issues demand] a continent able to bear witness with conviction to its values of peace, cooperation, respect for the rights of persons and peoples.”
ANSA
