História Animada

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers after what he called some member states’ “selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction” to this week’s mass border crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in north Africa.

More than 50,000 people crossed into the territory from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, with at least 67 people dying in the attempt. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.

Although more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, the influx triggered a political crisis for the Madrid government and led some fellow EU countries to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone.

Sánchez said “virtually all” of those who had crossed the border had been returned, “preventing any unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe”.

Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, said that while many people had returned to Morocco, not all those who had crossed into the city had left.

“We’re not back to normal because there are several thousand people who need to be returned, and there is still an atmosphere marked by unease and concern,” he said. He also called for “all the security measures deployed” in Ceuta to remain in place to guarantee the safety of the population.

Sánchez asked for the meeting after what appeared to be a breakdown of EU unity on external border policy, with Italy attacking Spain.

Italy announced on Friday evening that it would suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain for a month, even though Ceuta – and Spain’s other north African enclave, Melilla – are subject to special Schengen rules that prevent onward movement within the zone.

Map showing location of Ceuta in Mediterranean region, and another showing location of Tarajal breakwater on border between Ceuta and Morocco

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, blamed the situation in Ceuta on the Sánchez government’s decision to offer a now-closed scheme to regularise the status of more than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. He said the programme had incentivised human trafficking and was “profoundly wrong”.

Sánchez was forthright in a letter sent to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council president, António Costa, and Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, which holds the EU presidency.

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Pedro Sánchez speaking at a press conference in Ceuta on Friday. Photograph: Borja Puig de la Bellacasa/Moncloa handout/EPA

Sánchez said that while most EU countries had expressed support and solidarity over events in Ceuta, others had chosen to attack Spain.

“Such an attitude – driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest – is … contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” he said.

In a pointed rebuke to Italy, he noted that Spain was “according to Frontex, one of the least porous external borders of the European Union, with a number of irregular entries that is half that recorded, for example, in Italy in recent years (2021–2026)”.

Senior EU officials were due to meet on Saturday in a “political crisis response team” convened by Ireland’s presidency.

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Tens of thousands of migrants cross …

📌 Fonte: The Guardian

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