24 European states call for joint strategy on Ceuta crisis

A group of twenty‑four European nations, among them Italy, Germany and Denmark, issued a joint communiqué on Saturday urging the European Union to convene an emergency meeting of interior ministers. The request follows the deadly surge of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, where more than 60,000 people from Morocco entered the territory within a single day.

The letter, addressed to EU Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Irish‑presiding EU Council president, calls for an immediate collective assessment of the crisis and a unified European response.

Signatories demand that the EU deploy its full suite of resources to re‑establish control over the outer perimeter, expand Frontex operations, and intensify cooperation with Morocco. They also stress that human traffickers must not be allowed to exploit weak points in the Union’s external borders.

The communiqué warns against policies that could act as a “pull factor” for irregular migration and insists that the EU cannot tolerate uncontrolled mass border crossings or hybrid threats that might suggest illegal entry leads to legal residence.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has already written to EU bodies, expressing dissatisfaction with the stance of certain member states and requesting a rapid response from the Union.