European ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss the Ceuta crisis after last week’s incident where there was a mass border crossing into the Spanish enclave in North Africa.
Ireland is convening the meeting as part of its presidency of the Council of the European Union amid widespread concern over the incident across the bloc.
More than 50,000 people crossed into the Spanish territory from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, with at least 67 people dying in the attempt. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.
Spain has since said that most of those who crossed the border have returned to Morocco.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has denounced what he called a “selfish, polarising and unlawful” reaction from some EU member states to the incident.
He made the remarks in a letter addressed to European Council president António Costa, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Taoiseach Micheál Martin, as Ireland holds the bloc’s rotating presidency.
It came after some European leaders vowed to impose border checks, if necessary, and even suspend Spain’s participation in Europe’s free-travel zone, the Schengen area.
Twenty-two EU leaders also wrote to Costa, von der Leyen and Martin requesting an extraordinary meeting of interior ministers to decide on an “immediate and co-ordinated European response”.
“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings” or “other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible,” the EU leaders including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Germany’s Friedrich Merz wrote.
[ Spain pushes last migrants out of Ceuta as locals suspect US role in ‘invasion’Opens in new window ]
On Saturday, the Taoiseach confirmed that Ireland would convene a meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on Tuesday to discuss the developments in Ceuta.
Tuesday’s meeting, to take place via video-link, will be chaired by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
On Friday, O’Callaghan asked the Irish EU council presidency team to convene a meeting of the EU’s integrated political crisis response (IPCR) mechanism.
The IPCR is aimed at supporting rapid and co-ordinated decision-making at EU political level for major crises.
The meeting went ahead on Saturday and was attended by officials representing EU member states and the European Commission as well as the EU’s border agency Frontex, the European Union Agency for Asylum and Europol.
O’Callaghan’s spokeswoman said “the IPCR took stock of the situation including the latest updates from the Spanish authorities and EU agencies which indicate that virtually all people who have crossed illegally now having been returned, with no onward movement to the European continent or other member states”.
She added: “The shared assessment from EU partners was that the situation has been swiftly brought under control.” – Additional reporting: Bloomberg; The Guardian