EU Leaders Rally Behind Spain Over Ceuta and Melilla
The European Union is preparing a declaration of support for Spain over Ceuta and Melilla. Two months after the July migration crisis, European leaders want to reaffirm the status of the two cities as EU borders in Africa. The message is aimed directly at Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla will feature at the European summit on October 15 and 16 in Brussels. According to a confidential document seen by the Spanish daily El País, the leaders of the 27 are negotiating a declaration of solidarity with Madrid. The text emphasizes a geographical and political distinction: the two cities have “the only land borders of the European Union on the African continent.”
On Bladi.net : Faced with 22 European countries, France chooses Spain and Morocco
The draft conclusions express the European Council’s support for Spain following the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta on July 30 and 31. They also commend the financial and operational assistance mobilized by Brussels. The reference to Ceuta and Melilla was included at the request of the Spanish government.
Morocco is not mentioned in the declaration. But, according to El País, this explicit reference to the two cities’ belonging to the European Union constitutes a message to Rabat, which has historically claimed sovereignty over them.
After criticism of Madrid, a change in tone
This support contrasts with the European response in August. The day after mass crossings from Morocco, 22 EU governments, led in particular by Italy, had criticized Pedro Sánchez’s migration policy. They believed that Madrid’s move to regularize migrants may have encouraged arrivals in Ceuta.
France, Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg had refused to join the initiative. The crisis had thus caused an unusual rift among European partners, as more than 70,000 people had just crossed the border from Morocco.
Since then, Brussels has introduced several support measures. The European Commission has notably unlocked 114.7 million euros for Spain, to strengthen border surveillance, reception capacity and return operations. The European Parliament has also adopted a resolution calling for stronger migration cooperation with Morocco.
On Bladi.net : Migrants: European Parliament wants to use funding and market access as leverage against Morocco
The next step will be political. The draft obtained by El País is due to be reviewed on Thursday and Friday by European heads of state and government. Its adoption would give the support expressed so far by the Commission and Parliament a collective dimension at the highest level of the Union.
Negotiations are continuing over the final wording. The summit will also address new European procedures being considered to respond to mass arrivals of migrants at external borders, an initiative directly revived by the Ceuta crisis this summer.
