EU Official: No Intimidation on Migration as Ceuta Crisis Unfolds

In an interview with Spanish public radio, Schinas affirmed that since Ceuta is a European border, everything that happens there concerns not only Madrid but all Europeans. The Vice-President of the European Commission, alluding to Morocco, stressed that Europe will not be the victim of "these tactics".

"No one can intimidate or blackmail the European Union," Schinas repeated, before recalling that in recent months, Turkey had already used such a strategy of instrumentalizing the migration issue without success.

Through the voice of European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, the European Union had already called on Morocco on Tuesday to stop the irregular departures from its territory.

Since Monday morning, 8,000 migrants have entered by swimming or even on foot in Ceuta, denounces the Spanish government, which notes that about 4,000 have been pushed back to Morocco. This unprecedented migratory surge comes against the backdrop of a major diplomatic crisis with Morocco, which condemns the reception in Spanish territory of the Polisario leader, Brahim Ghali, under an Algerian borrowed identity.

In reaction to the rush of migrants to Ceuta, Madrid summoned the Moroccan ambassador to express its "displeasure" at the arrival of these thousands of migrants. In response, Morocco immediately recalled its ambassador to Rabat "for consultation".