Interior ministers from European Union member countries will hold a videoconference meeting on Tuesday on the situation in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa where more than 60,000 people, according to Madrid, entered illegally last week. The debate on European migration policy is relaunched.

Published on: 08/03/2026 - 5:40 p.m. Modified on: 08/03/2026 - 10:22 p.m.

To display this YouTube content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.

An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.

Videoconference discussions in the heart of summer for the Twenty-Seven. A ministerial meeting is planned for Tuesday August 4 between the Ministers of the Interior of the Member States of the Twenty-Seven, initiated by 22 countries after the illegal entry, at the end of July, of more than 60,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, according to the report given by Madrid which shows 72 deaths.

Italy and Denmark took the initiative on Saturday – supported in total by 22 European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – to send an open letter to the Irish presidency of the EU to demand “an immediate and coordinated European response” to this unprecedented event which left the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez isolated.

“We cannot allow massive and uncontrolled crossings, the exploitation of migration or other hybrid threats to give the feeling that it is possible to enter the European Union illegally. And that an illegal entry can then be transformed into a legal stay,” wrote the signatories, of which Portugal and France – two countries bordering Spain – were not part.

Also read Rumors, call for air, passivity of Morocco... how to explain the unprecedented influx of migrants in Ceuta?

On the eve of this meeting, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called for "a common European response" to be found, in a letter addressed to the Spanish Prime Minister. “This episode clearly shows that we must go further to strengthen our borders at the most sensitive points,” she wrote.

She mentions as a solution "increased surveillance and, when necessary, the use of physical barriers", but qualifies: "The protection of all of our external borders constitutes a shared European responsibility."

“Threat to Europe”

The European right and far right, in particular, criticize Spain for its migration policy, among the most flexible in the European Union, and the lack of border controls. On Thursday, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni went so far as to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen area.

Also readCrisis in Ceuta: can we exclude Spain from the Schengen area as Giorgia Meloni calls for?

A measure supported by Denmark and Finland, although it is not provided for by European texts. “Countries that do not fulfill their obligation to protect the external border cannot be members of Schengen,” underlined the Finnish Minister of the Interior, Mari Rantanen, a member of the populist right.

Same story from the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, of the social democratic party (center left): “Uncontrolled immigration constitutes a threat to Europe and to Denmark.”

“Pure political theater”

For Camille Le Coz, director of the Institute of European Migration Policy interviewed on the English-speaking branch of France 24, "the images of migrants rushing en masse into the streets of Ceuta were used politically by right-wing and far-right parties throughout Europe, to show that Europe was under attack."

“This is pure political theater because, as has been well documented, no one came from Ceuta to mainland Spain,” she said.

According to Madrid, almost all of the migrants have since returned to Morocco, entry into Ceuta not giving the right to stay in Spain, nor to reach the Iberian Peninsula, nor to travel freely in Europe, in accordance with the regulations of the Schengen area, recalled Spanish officials.

Spain isolated

Despite everything, Rome has decided to strengthen controls at the air and sea borders with Spain. “This is an exceptional measure, adopted to protect national security and prevent possible repercussions for our Nation,” Giorgia Meloni justified Friday on X.

A policy also followed by Portugal and France, where the president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, denounced "a coordinated migratory invasion of European territory".

Spain thus finds itself isolated, although Paris and London have offered to provide help.

“At a time when the EU is trying to repair all this past vision to build a common system, we see some member states using the situation to attack the Spanish government, which is currently quite isolated on the European scene,” underlines Camille Le Coz.

Tuesday's ministerial meeting should address the question of strengthening Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency, and that of the effectiveness of cooperation between the EU and Morocco.

With AFP and Reuters

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.