Italy, Spain agree to remove border checks

Italy and Spain have reached an agreement to end their tit-for-tat border checks that were introduced following a disagreement over migration, according to diplomatic and government sources. The two Schengen zone members had been requiring passport checks for passengers arriving from the other country, despite not sharing a land border.

This policy began after Italy's interior ministry imposed controls on Spanish travelers in response to a large influx of migrants crossing from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa.

The detente, which ends a standoff that began in the summer, was reached during talks between Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spain's Pedro Sanchez at an EU summit in Brussels. The agreement states that the measures will expire simultaneously, at the end of a one-week period. The deal comes as both countries grapple with the ongoing migration crisis, which has seen thousands of migrants attempting to enter Spain from North African nations.