STRASBOURG, France – The European Parliament has strongly condemned the migration attack against the EU’s southern border in Ceuta on 30 and 31 July, as well as the subsequent invasion of the city, and has demanded an independent and exhaustive investigation to identify those responsible. The chamber considers that the migration avalanche against the autonomous city constitutes an attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a member state, in which irregular migration flows were used as an instrument of hybrid warfare against Spain.
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The reference to the Ceuta crisis was incorporated into a European Parliament report on the rise of hybrid threats against the EU through an amendment tabled by the rapporteur herself, Lithuanian MEP Rasa Jukneviciene of the EPP. The text was approved by 435 votes in favour, 209 against and 13 abstentions. The chamber, however, rejected two other amendments promoted by Vox that called on Brussels to urgently review all EU funding provided to Morocco for migration management and border control, implicitly pointing to Rabat as ultimately responsible for the migration attack on Ceuta. The amendments had the backing of Spanish PP MEPs but did not succeed because they did not receive support from the rest of the European People’s Party group, with Socialists, Liberals, Greens and the Left also voting against.
Spanish PP MEP Nicolás Pascual de la Parte said that what happened in Ceuta cannot be reduced to a migration crisis but constitutes an attack on the territorial integrity of Spain and therefore on an external border of the European Union, in which irregular immigration was used as an instrument of pressure and destabilisation, stressing that Europe cannot look the other way.
The final resolution approved on Wednesday strongly condemns the attack on the Union’s southern border in the city of Ceuta on 30 and 31 July 2026, as well as the subsequent invasion of the city, which constitutes an attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a member state. The European Parliament regrets the use of irregular migration flows as an instrument of hybrid warfare directed against the stability and security of a member state and calls for an independent and exhaustive investigation to clarify responsibility for the planning and execution of the attacks and determine the objectives pursued.
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MEPs are scheduled to approve another resolution on Thursday dedicated entirely to the Ceuta crisis, with political groups having submitted up to seven different drafts and failing to agree on a compromise text, leaving the outcome of tomorrow’s vote still open. In the report on hybrid threats approved on Wednesday, the chamber identifies Russia, directly or through others such as Belarus, as the main danger, with China, Iran and North Korea also behind some attacks. Member states must share more intelligence information and strengthen coordination for early detection of such threats, the European Parliament demands. Finally, the report calls for greater cooperation between the EU and NATO to reinforce Europe’s preparedness, resilience and deterrence against hybrid threats.
