Lithuanian ruling party leader dismisses calls to expel Spain from Schengen

Virginijus Sinkevičius, the leader of Lithuania's ruling Democratic Union "For Lithuania", has rejected suggestions from several EU countries that Spain should be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone. He made the statement on Wednesday, referring to the proposals as populist. Sinkevičius argued that the current migration situation should be tackled by reinforcing the EU's external borders rather than by punitive measures.

Speaking about the possibility of expelling Spain, Sinkevičius noted that Schengen rules contain no mechanism for removing a member state from the bloc, making such calls groundless. The statements follow a wave of migration to Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the North African coast, where tens of thousands of people arrived from Morocco last week. Spain responded by swiftly sending migrants back. By Tuesday, Madrid reported that around 70,000 of the 72,000 people who had entered the enclave had been returned to Morocco. At least 75 migrants died during attempts to reach Ceuta.

Ceuta is part of Spain and thus included in the Schengen area, but it operates under special conditions, with identity checks still mandatory for those travelling between the enclave and the Spanish mainland. The situation has put Spain under growing pressure within the EU. Twenty-two of the 27 member states have supported a joint appeal for stricter measures against illegal immigration, suggesting that Spain's migration policies contributed to the problem. Sinkevičius, however, insisted that the priority should be protecting the EU's external frontier, not questioning Spain's place in the Schengen area.