EU Offers Morocco Increased Border Support After Ceuta Migration Crisis

AP

Migrants who crossed into Spain from Morocco sit outside the temporary immigrant centre in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, 2 August 2026.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the European Union is prepared to increase its support for Morocco to help prevent a repeat of last week's chaotic attempt by around 50,000 migrants to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

In a reply seen by Reuters to a message from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday, in which he accused some European Union partners of a ⁠lack of solidarity for their angry responses to the border breach, Von der Leyen wrote:

“Morocco is an important strategic partner, particularly in our efforts to combat migrant smuggling and illegal migration. In cooperation with Spain, especially on anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco."

The unprecedented surge, which began on Thursday at one of EU’s only two land borders with Africa—the other being the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla—has sparked concern across the bloc.

Although Ceuta is not part of the Schengen Area, Italy suspended passport-free Schengen travel arrangements with Spain for one month. Meanwhile, 22 of the EU’s 27 member states called for a coordinated response to strengthen the bloc’s external borders.

Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, announced that it had an emergency video meeting of EU interior ministers for Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

On the eve of the meeting, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with TVE that Spain will demand "solidarity from all the member states of the European Union" and warned that those who refuse to offer it "are working against Europe."

The minister stressed that Ceuta and Melilla are not only Spanish borders but also external borders of the Union, so the response must be shared.

Albares was particularly critical of Italy over its attacks on Spain's handling of the crisis and placed that stance within what he described as a "reactionary international" which, in his view, is trying to exploit migration politically to weaken the European project.

The minister insisted that "the integrity of the Schengen area is absolutely guaranteed" and called for an end to the "deliberate confusion" about how the free-movement area works.

At least 88 people died during the recent mass influx of migrants into Ceuta from Morocco, Spanish officials said on Monday, though Moroccan officials later presented a lower estimate.




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