MADRID, Spain – Nearly twenty EU countries believe Pedro Sánchez’s government migration policy is not the right one and, even if implicitly, have come out against the decisions on the mass regularisation of migrants and the handling of the crisis in Ceuta. This group, led by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is calling for better control of the EU’s external borders and tougher measures, pushing for the suspension of asylum grants in scenarios like the one in the autonomous city.
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They expressed this at a breakfast and in a document signed by Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, Malta, Sweden and Bulgaria, as well as Italy and Denmark themselves, some of the member states that already in August expressed doubts and criticism over the situation in the autonomous city with the entry of up to 80,000 people from Morocco. “I have asked the Commission to examine what happens when a country does practically the opposite of the others: someone enters a country illegally and, suddenly, is allowed to stay legally. I consider that this goes against the migration policy that a broad majority in Europe defends today. I have asked the Commission to keep studying this matter,” Frederiksen said, in an indirect reference to the Spanish government’s policy. Sources consulted by 20minutos explained that both Italy and Denmark pushed to include in the conclusions both better border control and the need for tools to curb such policies, with other governments said to have warned of the pull effect.
Meloni, for her part, has called for increased surveillance at the borders, focusing on what happened in Ceuta, and has also demanded, according to a statement from the Italian executive, “a specific review of European legislation to improve the effectiveness of the new procedures for detaining irregular migrants during border controls.” Italy has even agreed with Spain to extend border controls by another week with a view to lifting them next week, though the tone of the debate remains gruff.
Throughout recent hours, however, the government has insisted that it arrives at the summit with figures backing its policies, with Moncloa sources pointing out in this regard that irregular arrivals on the Atlantic route have fallen by 74 per cent and that Spain more than meets all EU migration commitments. The message from European Council President António Costa was more conciliatory, saying that the numbers show the EU’s comprehensive approach is working, with irregular border crossings into the EU at their lowest level since 2021, but that vigilance must be maintained and the fight against migrant trafficking and all forms of instrumentalisation of migrants stepped up.
Austrian Prime Minister Christian Stocker also joined Frederiksen’s and Meloni’s words, saying the government sent “a bad signal” with the regularisation, adding that Spain sent a signal by legalising many migrants who were in an irregular situation in the country and that this is not a good signal since in Europe efforts are being made to combat irregular migration, secure borders and achieve the collaboration of third countries. Czech leader Andrej Babiš was much harsher, warning that we see what is happening in Spain and that there are politicians capable of replacing the population with migrants just to stay in their posts and remain in government.
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Sánchez, for his part, wanted to celebrate the “solidarity” with Ceuta and the “commitment” of the institutions to the situation there, saying that Europe is today more present than it has ever been in Ceuta and Melilla despite the tensions with some of his counterparts over the regularisation of migrants. The head of the executive separated the conversations on Ceuta from the broader migration debate and clarified that “there are other countries” doing regularisations even if they call it something else, saying that there are very different positions but that an agreement had been reached in the conclusions based on the migration and asylum pact, among other important points. Sánchez thus played down the words of other partners, adding that other governments have put proposals on the table to fight irregular migration and that they are open to looking at them, while assuring that the rest of his European colleagues have not asked him for explanations over the entry of Moroccan navy vessels into Spanish waters, though he did reproach what the Czech prime minister said on migration, saying it is the same discourse Vox has in Spain. The prime minister defended that Spain is “an outstanding pupil in the fight against irregular migration” and that irregular migrant entries have fallen by “more than 70 per cent” on the Atlantic route, concluding that there is one thing that is blah, blah, blah and another that is facts.
