Migration expert Kert Valdaru: Morocco's actions decisive in Ceuta crisis
The mass influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta has sparked EU-wide debate, even as Madrid says the crisis is over. Migration expert Kert Valdaru says Morocco played the key role, and the events exposed the EU's continued inability to guard its external border.
The large influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has triggered heated discussion among European Union member states. Spanish authorities say the crisis has been brought under control and nearly all undocumented entrants have returned to Morocco.
Migrants who left Ceuta described attacks, lack of food, and nowhere to shelter. A Moroccan man named Mohamed explained he was going back because there was "nothing to do" in the city, local residents had treated the migrants badly, shops were shut, and nothing was available.
Migration expert Kert Valdaru believes Morocco's actions were the key factor behind what happened, while decisions taken by Spain itself may have contributed as well. He referred to Spain's programme to legalise migrants who entered illegally and to a court ruling that prevents the automatic return of people arriving by sea to Morocco. Valdaru said the migration attack had achieved its goal: more than ten years after the previous migration crisis, the EU still cannot effectively protect its external border, its security remains dependent on individual North African states, and one purpose of such attacks is to divide European societies.
The events in Ceuta have also caused disagreement in Estonia. Urmas Reinsalu, chairman of the conservative party Isamaa, said he is convinced the Schengen area will survive and provide security only if member states honour their obligations and avoid provoking additional migration pressure. If they fail to do so, additional border control measures must be considered, he argued. Interior Minister Igor Taro of Eesti 200 disagreed, saying the priority should be to support an ally and help Spain protect the EU's external border. Taro called Reinsalu's position short-sighted, since it first tells allies they are being thrown overboard and only later promises discussion. He also noted that Spain quickly resolved the situation and there was no reason to assume the crisis would spread to the European mainland, so the negative reactions were premature and unjustified.
