Several European leaders made open calls on Thursday and Friday for their countries to expel Spain from of the EU’s Schengen open-borders area in response to the dramatic illegal migrant wave storming the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa bordering Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea with about 85,000 inhabitants, is enduring its worst migrant crisis in recent times after tens of thousands swarmed the territory over the past two days, causing the widespread collapse of the enclave’s border control. About 49,000 migrants reportedly stormed into the Spanish enclave over the past hours. At least 34 people have been reported dead in Ceuta at press time.
As Breitbart News reported, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that Italy will not “stand by and watch” unprepared. As such, Meloni stressed that her government is considering suspending the Schengen Area agreement with Spain and taking other extraordinary measures to defend its borders and the safety of Italian citizens. The Schengen Area is a visa-free travel zone within the European Union’s member states.
Meloni’s announcement was backed by top members of her government such as Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The Spanish government responded by summoning Italy’s ambassador to Madrid, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, on Friday morning.
Since then, other European leaders and politicians have called upon their respective countries to take similar actions and protect their borders.
In the Netherlands, Dutch Party for Freedom leader and Breitbart News contributor Geert Wilders called for his country to immediately close its borders and demanded Spain to be expelled from the Schengen agreement altogether.
“49,000 Moroccans added. It’s always the same: left-liberal nutjobs who let everyone in. Sánchez or [Dutch Prime Minister Rob] Jetten, it’s all the same pot,” Wilders wrote on social media.
“Our Dutch borders must CLOSE NOW and Spain must be KICKED OUT of Schengen!” he continued.
In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson emphasized that it is important that Spain act swiftly to regain control of the situation and fulfill its Schengen-related obligations. Kristersson, in a social media post, said that the Swedish government is prepared to take measures to safeguard order and control if the developing situation were to risk Sweden’s security.
“The social democratic government in Spain must now not make the same mistake as the Social Democrats in Sweden in 2015 — where a no is not a no,” Kristersson said.
“Since we received information about this, Migration Minister Johan Forssell has been in contact with his Nordic counterparts and does not rule out taking the measures required to ensure that 2015 does not happen again,” he continued.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, in a written statement shared with the television channel TV2 and the news agency Ritzau, reportedly said that the European Union should consider suspending Spain from the Schengen Area to avoid a repeat of Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis.
“The images from Ceuta are shocking. We will not accept a repeat of 2015,” Frederiksen said, per TV2. “It goes without saying that the EU must immediately take all necessary steps and consider all options, including a suspension of the Schengen agreement.”
Similarly, Finnish interior Minister Mari Rantanen expressed her support for Giorgia Meloni’s proposal to suspend Spain from the Schengen Area and stressed, “this cannot continue.”
“All European countries must support Meloni’s proposal. Countries that do not fulfill their obligation to protect the external border cannot be members of Schengen,” Rantanen wrote on social media.
In France, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reportedly affirmed during an interview on Friday morning that his country has reinforced its shared borders with Spain and has control of the area. Nuñez explained that he had already spoken with his Spanish counterpart and explained the French government’s decision to him.
“In response to the situation observed in the Ceuta enclave, I gave instructions as of last night to immediately strengthen the controls at the Spanish border,” Nuñez explained in a Friday morning social media post. “Furthermore, I am activating the Rapid Intervention Border Force for in-depth checks.”
French presidential candidate for the centre-right Les Républicains (LR) party, Bruno Retailleau, said on social media that the footage of the crisis in Ceuta should serve as a “wake-up call” for all French and European political leaders. Retailleau affirmed that the Spanish government’s mass amnesty plan for hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants has created a “powerful pull factor” threatening to destabilize all of Europe.
As such, Retailleau stressed, Spain should be suspended from the Schengen free movement agreement. The French politician called for his country to support Giorgia Meloni’s request to suspend Spain from Schengen.
“Border controls with Spain must be reinstated, and European rules must be changed so that territorial visas, limited to the country that issues them, become the rule and no longer the exception,” Retailleau’s message read in part.
“Europe must also equip itself with the means to deport foreigners in irregular situations who have entered its territory, in order to be a deterrent,” he continued.
The dramatic and still ongoing situation in Ceuta erupted after thousands of illegal migrants began exploiting an immigration loophole created by a Spanish Supreme Court ruling forbidding law enforcement officials from deporting migrants who arrive by sea — prompting migrants to swim their way into Ceuta from neighboring Moroccan beaches.
Thursday and Friday’s announcements from European leaders are not the first time they have called upon restricting the Schengen Area over Spain this year. In April, French National Rally president and the chairman of the Patriots for Europe in the EU Parliament, Jordan Bardella, suggested that Schengen should be limited to only European citizens. Bardella issued the suggestion in response to the Sánchez administration’s ongoing mass amnesty plan.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.