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Italy prime minister says Rome will safeguard Schengen

Saturday, 30 January 2016 3:01 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 30 January 2016 3:01 PM ]

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (AFP)

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Saturday that Rome will stand up against those forces who aim to “destroy” the passport-free Schengen zone.

“We say with force, decisiveness and courage that those who want to destroy Schengen want to destroy Europe. And we will not allow them to,” Renzi said on Saturday, a day after meeting with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Europe is in danger of collapsing when it becomes simply a set of self-interest,” added Renzi, who was speaking during a visit to the Italian island of Ventotene to pay respect to the grave of one of the forefathers of the European Unification.

Renzi laid a bouquet of flowers to the grave of Altiero Spinelli, politician and co-author of the Manifesto of Ventotene, considered the cornerstone of the European idea.

“Today, in a moment of great difficulty for Europe, we decided to return here, where it all began... to pay homage to what happened during what was perhaps the most difficult moment in the history of European identity,” Renzi said.

Spinelli was imprisoned from 1927 to 1943 by the fascist government for dissident activities, Spinelli began the manifesto in 1941 on a federation of European states.

The manifesto is considered to be the main inspiration behind the movement for European unification.

Spinelli wrote the "Ventotene Manifesto" with fellow prisoner Ernesto Rossi.

Renzi met Merkel in Berlin, Germany, on Friday to discuss ways to manage the recent refugee crisis in the EU.

Both leaders spoke in favor of a united European response to the refugee crisis.

Renzi, however, said the burden caused by the refugee crisis needs to be shared among all European states.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel address a press conference following talks at the chancellery in Berlin on January 29, 2016. (AFP Photo)

In the face of the threatened integrity of the Schengen area, Renzi said that the prospect of giving up on Schengen as a result of the refugee crisis would mean that "we give up on Europe."

Over a million asylum seekers reached Europe’s shores in 2015, with the majority of them fleeing countries hit by terrorism such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The refugee crisis has been Europe’s worst since World War II.

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