Italy suspends open border with Slovenia, cites threats
Italy on Wednesday announced it will suspend an open-border agreement with neighboring Slovenia, citing an increased threat of terrorism in Europe due to violence in the Middle East.
Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government said authorities in the northeastern border region of Friuli-venezia Giulia had identified 16,000 people so far this year who had entered Italy illegally across the Slovenian border, the last stop on the Balkan route that some migrants take to enter western Europe.
That is in addition to the 140,000 migrant arrivals in Italy by sea, an increase of 85 percent over 2022.
The government said in a statement that the Interior Ministry’s antiterrorism committee was looking into the situation.