The migration crisis in Ceuta, Spain's exclave in North Africa, has triggered a serious dispute within the EU. EU interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the "developments in Ceuta," the Irish EU Council Presidency announced on the online platform X. While several EU member states criticised the Spanish government, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accused some EU countries of a "selfish" and "unlawful" response.
The emergency meeting of EU interior ministers was requested on one side by Sánchez, and on the other by the heads of state and government of 22 of the EU's 27 member states. In a joint letter, the 22 leaders stated that recent events in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, which borders Morocco, required an "immediate and coordinated European response."
It must not be allowed, the letter said, "that mass and uncontrolled border crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration or other hybrid threats create the impression that it is possible to enter the European Union illegally."
Nor should it be permitted "that illegal entry can subsequently turn into legal residence," the letter continued, a statement also signed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). This can be read as a jab at the Spanish government, which began granting residence permits to hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants earlier this spring.
The letter was initiated by right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. The governments of Hungary, Sweden and Poland were also among the signatories, but not those of Spain's neighbours, France and Portugal.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the move. A process must be launched "to strengthen our European resilience," she said. At the same time, the Commission President, like the Spanish government, pointed out that "not a single person has reached the Spanish mainland or the rest of the EU."
Meloni wrote on X that the position held by Italy was "shared by a growing number" of European countries. On Thursday, Meloni had floated the idea of suspending Schengen rules with Spain. She received backing from Finland and Denmark. Italy went on to reintroduce checks on flight and ship traffic with Spain, initially for one month.
Madrid described threats from other countries to exclude Spain from the Schengen area as "demagogic." Legal experts consulted by the news agency AFP said such a measure would not be possible under current EU law. Ceuta, in any case, is not covered by the free movement rules that apply to the rest of the Schengen area.
For his part, Sánchez, faced with European criticism of his country's handling of the Ceuta crisis, called for a special session of EU interior ministers. In a letter to the heads of the European institutions, the Socialist leader wrote that "in the current international context," the European Union could not afford a "selfish, divisive and unlawful response." Spain's left-wing government pursues a relatively liberal migration policy.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) called on the European Commission to give absolute priority to protecting the EU's external borders. "The situation in Ceuta in recent days was an absolute stress test, which we passed," Wadephul told "Bild am Sonntag." "The situation has shown just how vulnerable Europe is."
The trigger for the dispute was the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in Ceuta. Over the course of the week, up to 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into the territory by land or sea, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on the ground. Chaotic scenes unfolded, and at least 67 migrants died en route to Ceuta, according to the Spanish government. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, "almost all" of the migrants who arrived have since returned to Morocco.
AFP reporters witnessed further migrants, mostly young people, crossing the border back into Morocco on Saturday morning under the watch of security forces. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, a roughly 500-metre floating barrier was laid in the sea off Ceuta.
What exactly triggered the surge of migrants remained unclear. Moroccan authorities gave no official explanation. Sánchez blamed rumours spread by the "smuggling mafia" about a supposedly open border for the events. The Moroccan human rights organisation AMDH called for a "serious and independent investigation."
SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil called for solidarity with Spain. Ceuta had become "the target of what appears to be an orchestrated migration movement," Klingbeil said on Saturday in Berlin. The people involved had been instrumentalised "in an attempt to divide Europe." For that reason, he said, "Europe's unity and solidarity with Spain must now come first."
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