‘A matter of urgency’: Majority of EU countries call for talks over migrant influx into Spain’s Ceuta enclave

COPENHAGEN - A majority of EU countries called on Aug 1 for emergency talks on the sudden inflow of tens of thousands of migrants into Spain’s enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

An open letter from the leaders of 22 of the EU’s 27 members demanded the bloc’s interior ministers have a video meeting “as a matter of urgency” to agree a speedy coordinated response, and to “prevent further uncontrolled crossings”.

“We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration,” it said.

Ireland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the meeting would take place on Aug 4.

EU foreign policy chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the move, saying the bloc needed “a lessons learned process to improve our European resilience,” while adding that “not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU” during the influx.

The EU letter was initiated by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country has temporarily suspended Schengen-area rules with Spain, and by her Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, who said on July 31 that the EU should consider suspending Schengen cooperation with Spain.

Meloni on X wrote that “the line that Italy has long supported is today shared by an ever-growing number of European Nations. Defending the external borders of the Union is not the interest of a single Nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

Among the other signatories are German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the prime ministers of Hungary, Sweden and Poland, but not the French and Portuguese leaders, whose countries directly border Spain.

“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible,” the letter said.

“Such a perception would encourage further attempts, undermine confidence in our common migration policy and have repercussions for all Member States.”

It suggested that “ministers should in particular consider enhanced Frontex support and the effectiveness of EU cooperation with Morocco.”

“We take note that no unauthorised onward movements have been recorded towards Europe,” it added.

Spain’s interior ministry said on Aug 1 that nearly all of the 60,000 migrants who breached the border since July 29 had left and the situation in Ceuta was nearly back to normal. AFP