EU Commission president: Ceuta chaos shows need for tougher migration policy

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the mass border breach in Ceuta in late July demonstrates the need for a stricter and more coordinated migration policy. According to BBC, over 50,000 people entered the Spanish territory illegally within one day.

Spanish authorities later estimated that around 69,500 people were returned to Morocco, more than the initial estimate of roughly 50,000. Reports indicate 72 deaths on the Spanish side and 11 on the Moroccan side.

In a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, von der Leyen praised the rapid response during the crisis but said the incident clearly shows that more work is needed to reinforce borders at critical points. She reminded that protecting all external borders is a shared European responsibility and called for careful monitoring, including the use of physical barriers where necessary.

The events in Ceuta have strained relations among EU member states. Italy temporarily suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain, with Finland and Denmark voicing support. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš went further, calling for Spain to be temporarily excluded from the Schengen area. Sánchez responded by saying he has serious concerns about the governments of some EU countries and stressed that Ceuta is not part of the Schengen zone. He added that while most states have shown solidarity, some governments have chosen to attack Spain based on prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interests.

EU interior ministers will hold an emergency video conference on August 4. Von der Leyen said the meeting will be an opportunity to draw lessons from the Ceuta events. She called on EU countries to focus on five issues: preventing illegal migration in cooperation with partner states, strengthening external borders, introducing early warning systems, dismantling people-smuggling networks and strictly applying return mechanisms.

Sánchez accused people smugglers of exploiting a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling that limits the government's ability to immediately deport people arriving by sea. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on August 1 that the situation has almost normalized and that the country is working on building an inflatable barrier.