(ANSA) - Amsterdam, January 25 - EU interior ministers have called on the European Commission to start activation procedures for Article 26 of the Schengen Agreement, Dutch Security Minister Klaas Dijkhoff said Monday. The article provides for member states to legally suspend open borders with other members and reinstate border checks for up to 2 years.

Also on Monday, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said "Schengen is safe for now... I believe that for technical and political reasons, we have until May" to prevent it dissolving.

"To all those who believe the solution for Italy is to shut down Schengen... I say: do they or do they not understand that we can't put barbed wire in the Mediterranean or in the Adriatic, and that the economic damage would be enormous?"