The Schengen Treaty will remain suspended for several months with over 300 Italian security personnel guarding the Italian-Slovenian border. This situation may persist throughout the winter, as security checks against terrorist threats in this phase remain "indispensable", Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in his information brief at the Parliamentary Committee overseeing the implementation of the Schengen agreement on Tuesday (October 24).

However, this is not the only reason for this measure. There is the "danger of a domino effect" among countries: those who do not close their borders risk finding themselves with an increased inflow of irregular migrants, the minister noted.

Piantedosi said there was an "increased risk" of infiltrations of jihadists coming through the Balkan route. On November 2 he will meet with his Slovenian and Croatian counterparts "for an in-depth discussion over trans-border police cooperation".

Strengthened security also at maritime borders

Security measures are also being reinforced along maritime borders, particularly for arrivals via Mediterranean routes. These measures foresee "the use of special units to prevent terrorism active in thorough monitoring," according to the minister.

In addition, the temporary high alert status for the 57 border crossings in Friuli, which has been in effect for the past ten days, is likely to endure for several weeks.

"An additional complication is the already high number of illegal crossings along the Balkan route which could increase significantly due to the combined effect of the renewed controls at the Slovenian, Austrian, Polish, and Czech Republic," explained the Minister.

In particular, Ljubljana's decision to adopt these measures was reportedly motivated by heightened activities of international criminal networks in the Balkans and the fear of potential collusion between organized crime and terrorism, along with the continued irregular migration flows -- all aspects which make "border controls with Croatia and Hungary indispensable and urgent," noted Piantedosi.

Initial assessment and fear for those living at the borders

An assessment of the first 48 hours was already conducted.

During this period, Italian border police identified 3,142 individuals and inspected 1,555 vehicles, resulting in the detection of 66 foreign nationals. Following initial verifications, entry was refused for 28 of them. Minister Piantedosi noted that over 16,000 irregular migrants have arrived from the eastern border, and not all of them are eligible for refugee status in Italy.

The Mayor of Gorizia, Rodolfo Ziberna, expressed a wish for the suspension of the Schengen treaty not to extend throughout the entire winter season "because this would also have an impact on the daily relation of Gorizia with Nova Gorica, where many persons live on one side of the border and work and study on the other side, these people often need to cross the border multiple times per day.".

Ziberna's request, together with the Mayor of Nova Gorica, Samo Turel, is that a separate channel be set up for these crossings.

At the Fernetti crossing in Trieste, one of the main ones, long queues formed during the first working days of vigilance to allow for controls at the border crossing into Italy, focused primarily on buses, trucks, and heavy goods vehicles.