Political leaders across Europe are calling for border restrictions and possible suspension of Spain from the Schengen Area after tens of thousands of migrants reportedly entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
European political leaders intensified pressure on Spain Thursday and Friday as the migrant crisis in Ceuta spread into a wider dispute over the European Union’s Schengen open-border system, with officials in several countries calling for emergency border measures and, in some cases, Spain’s suspension from the travel zone.
Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast bordering Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea, has a population of approximately 85,000. The territory has been confronting one of its most severe migration emergencies in recent years after tens of thousands of migrants entered over a two-day period, overwhelming border controls and placing substantial pressure on local authorities.
Approximately 49,000 migrants reportedly entered the enclave during the latest surge. At least 34 people had been reported dead in Ceuta at press time.
The scale of the crossings quickly produced political repercussions elsewhere in Europe as governments considered whether Spain’s inability to contain the influx could affect other countries inside the Schengen Area, where participating states generally allow travel without routine internal border checks.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy would not “stand by and watch” without preparing a response. Meloni said her government was considering suspending Schengen arrangements with Spain and examining other extraordinary measures intended to protect Italy’s borders and its citizens.
Her position received support from senior members of the Italian government, including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Madrid responded Friday morning by summoning Italy’s ambassador to Spain, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi.
Calls for additional action soon emerged from several other European countries.
Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders demanded that the Netherlands immediately close its borders and called for Spain to be removed from Schengen.
“49,000 Moroccans added. It’s always the same: left-liberal nutjobs who let everyone in. Sánchez or [Dutch Prime Minister Rob] Jetten, it’s all the same pot,” Wilders wrote.
“Our Dutch borders must CLOSE NOW and Spain must be KICKED OUT of Schengen!” he continued.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also warned that Spain needed to regain control of the situation quickly and meet its responsibilities under Schengen. In a social media statement, Kristersson said Sweden was prepared to take steps to maintain security, order and border control if developments in Spain created risks for his country.
“The social democratic government in Spain must now not make the same mistake as the Social Democrats in Sweden in 2015 — where a no is not a no,” Kristersson said.
“Since we received information about this, Migration Minister Johan Forssell has been in contact with his Nordic counterparts and does not rule out taking the measures required to ensure that 2015 does not happen again,” he continued.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, went further by saying the European Union should consider suspending Spain from Schengen if necessary to prevent a repeat of the 2015 European migration crisis.
In a written statement provided to Danish broadcaster TV2 and the Ritzau news agency, Frederiksen described the scenes from Ceuta as unacceptable and called for the EU to examine its available options.
“The images from Ceuta are shocking. We will not accept a repeat of 2015,” Frederiksen said, according to TV2. “It goes without saying that the EU must immediately take all necessary steps and consider all options, including a suspension of the Schengen agreement.”
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen also backed Meloni’s proposal and argued that membership in the Schengen Area requires countries to secure the EU’s external borders.
“This cannot continue,” Rantanen wrote.
“All European countries must support Meloni’s proposal. Countries that do not fulfill their obligation to protect the external border cannot be members of Schengen,” she added.
France, meanwhile, moved directly to strengthen controls along its land border with Spain.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Friday morning that French authorities had reinforced the border and remained in control of the area. Nuñez said he had already spoken with his Spanish counterpart about the French government’s response.
“In response to the situation observed in the Ceuta enclave, I gave instructions as of last night to immediately strengthen the controls at the Spanish border,” Nuñez said. “Furthermore, I am activating the Rapid Intervention Border Force for in-depth checks.”
The Ceuta crisis also entered France’s presidential debate, with centre-right Les Républicains candidate Bruno Retailleau arguing that the migrant influx should be treated as a warning to political leaders throughout Europe.
Retailleau said images from Ceuta should serve as a “wake-up call” and blamed the Spanish government’s mass amnesty plan for hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants for creating what he described as a “powerful pull factor” with consequences beyond Spain.
He called on France to support Meloni’s effort to suspend Spain from Schengen and advocated restoring controls at the French-Spanish border.
“Border controls with Spain must be reinstated, and European rules must be changed so that territorial visas, limited to the country that issues them, become the rule and no longer the exception,” Retailleau wrote.
“Europe must also equip itself with the means to deport foreigners in irregular situations who have entered its territory, in order to be a deterrent,” he continued.
The current crisis followed a Spanish Supreme Court ruling barring authorities from immediately deporting migrants who reach Spanish territory by sea. Migrants subsequently began swimming from nearby Moroccan beaches into Ceuta, taking advantage of the legal distinction governing maritime arrivals.
The new calls for Schengen restrictions are part of a broader political dispute that predates the latest crossings.
In April, Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally and chairman of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, proposed restricting Schengen’s free-movement provisions to European citizens. Bardella made the proposal in response to the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and its mass amnesty plan for illegal migrants.
The scale of the latest Ceuta influx has now brought those arguments back to the center of European politics, with governments in Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands weighing or demanding measures aimed at preventing migrants who entered Spain from moving elsewhere within the Schengen Area.
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