The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has chosen the plenary session of the European Parliament to address the Spanish people this Wednesday, and the people of Ceuta in particular, to ensure that “the border of Ceuta is the border of Europe” and to proclaim that, therefore, “Europe will be there” for them. These statements come a month and a half after the massive entry of migrants suffered by the Autonomous City on July 30 and 31.
Von der Leyen has insisted from the European Parliament that “Ceuta is Europe and Europe will be there for you.” The migration crisis has occupied a large part of his speech on the State of the Union, with which he reviews the pending challenges for the European Union and points out the ‘roadmap’ that his Executive wants to promote in the remainder of the legislature to address them.
In this context, he has insisted on the need for the 27 to apply the Migration Pact that hardens the external border and speeds up deportations, while pointing out new measures to ensure that the Union reacts urgently to possible future crises similar to that of Ceuta.
Despite showing her unconditional support for Spain and, therefore, for Ceuta, Von der Leyen has avoided any reference to Morocco’s role in the irregular entry of almost 80,000 people at the end of July.
Brunner insists on the priority of “quickly returning” migrants
Already the day before, the Commissioner for the Interior and Migration, Magnus Brunner, warned that the “priority” in the Ceuta crisis continues to be “quickly returning all” the migrants who crossed irregularly from Morocco and remain in the autonomous city without the right to remain in Union territory.
Brussels also maintains that it has maintained constant contacts with the Spanish authorities from the beginning, also highlighting Morocco’s cooperation in accepting their rapid return.
Precisely tomorrow Brunner will travel to Madrid to meet with the Ministers of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres; with the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska; and with the Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz.
Although Brunner has not mentioned it, the PP already announced days ago that the commissioner will meet Alberto Núñez Feijóo on that trip.
Rabat’s letter to Spanish MEPs
It coincides that this Monday, the Moroccan Mission to the European Union and NATO sent a selective letter to several MEPs conveying Rabat’s position on the Ceuta migration crisis. The arrival of said document came just one day before the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (France) addressed the entry of 80,000 migrants to the autonomous city.
As Europa Press has been able to verify, only the MEPs of PSOE, PNV and ERC received the email sent by the Moroccan diplomatic representation.
It is also worth noting that Juan Jesús Vivas has insisted on the need for a European presence on the border with Morocco to prevent a new massive arrival of migrants from occurring, as already occurred on July 30 and 31.
