The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) wishes to inform all Filipinos who intends to go to Italy this July that from June 18 to July 15, the Schengen visa agreement is temporarily suspended. The upcoming Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Italy is the reason for the suspension. Italy is the host country of this event that will happen

in L’Aquila from July 8 to July 10.

An advisory from DFA that cites the announcement made by Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said, "This means that there will be police control in the borders that Italy shares with Schengen countries."

The Schengen agreement allows citizens of European Union (EU) member countries to travel to and fro their boundaries even without a passport. The DFA report said that the agreement was suspended during the said meeting not because Italy doesn’t want rallies and protests but is just avoiding violence. In a quote, Maroni said, “not to prevent demonstrations, but to block the arrival of those violent people who would like to come to Italy to hit policemen and crack people’s (skulls)."

The government of Italy informed member countries of the European Union of its plans to defer the agreement.

According to the DFA, "Minister Maroni stressed that the suspension is in keeping with general EU practice for the G8 and other important events. It may be noted that Italy suspended the agreement in 2001 during a G8 meeting held in Genoa."

Italy is not the first EU country to suspend the said agreement. France , Spain and Belgium also suspended the Schengen visa agreement before. To combat terrorism, France did it five times since 1995. On the other hand, Belgium did it during the European Football Championship to prevent hooliganism. In May 2004, Spain suspended the accord for the wedding of Prince Felipe.

Read more information on Schengen visa here.