EU holds emergency talks on Ceuta migration crisis

The interior ministers of the European Union member states will meet today via video conference to exchange views on the situation in Ceuta, where tens of thousands of migrants entered illegally from Morocco last week.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez proposed the meeting in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa, and Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, CE Report quotes STA.

In the letter, Sánchez criticized the responses of some member states, saying they had unfairly attacked Spain and acted selfishly. Italy, which advocates a strict migration policy, temporarily suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain in response to the developments in Ceuta.

In her reply on Monday, von der Leyen described today's meeting as an opportunity to draw lessons from the events in Ceuta. She stressed that the challenges posed by illegal migration require a common European response, coordinated action, and solidarity.

In a separate letter sent on Friday, representatives of 22 EU member states, including Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, also called on von der Leyen, Costa, and the Irish Presidency to convene the meeting. They proposed using the video conference to coordinate joint measures to protect the EU's external borders and support Spain in managing the situation.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is expected to present Rome's proposal to establish EU-run return centers for irregular migrants in safe third countries, based on the so-called Albanian model.

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