THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany has threatened to reinstate border checks "against the interests" of the EU's free movement zone in an escalating row with Italy over Tunisian refugees.
Italy has promised to give over 20,000 Tunisian refugees temporary visas allowing them to travel freely in the border-free Schengen zone, which covers all EU countries except Britain and Ireland.
Over 26,000 illegal migrants have reached Italy by boat through the small Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which is close to Tunisia. The Italian authorities have insisted other European countries must help take the burden.
Italy said last week that it would give six-month residence permits to all the migrants who have arrived since the beginning of the year.
Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said: "Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of migrants could come from Tunisia. It's a purely European affair."
But during bad-tempered European talks on Monday, Germany warned Italy that it will not accept the migrants and that Berlin will tear up the EU's border-free travel arrangements to stop them. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday, April 11, 2011
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