{"id":2303,"date":"2026-08-04T05:37:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2026-08-04T05:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:37:22","slug":"spanish-prime-minister-sanchez-fends-off-blistering-criticism-within-the-eu-over-ceuta-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2303","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez fends off blistering criticism within the EU over Ceuta crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s migration policies have come under withering criticism as leaders from across the European Union meet Tuesday following last week\u2019s rush of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa.<\/p>\n

Read more Court fight begins over South Africa\u2019s land law that irks the Trump administration<\/a><\/p>\n

The sudden arrival of 50,000 to 60,000 migrants on Thursday and Friday sparked a humanitarian crisis in Ceuta<\/span> and reignited the immigration debate in the 27-nation bloc, though most of the migrants soon went back. More than 80 migrants<\/span> died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier<\/span>, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.<\/p>\n

Open letters from 22 EU leaders, and a quick retort from Sanchez, have exposed a roiling debate inside the EU pitting migration hawks against the progressive Spanish leader who has challenged consensus within the bloc on migration as well as NATO spending<\/span>, Gaza and Israel<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Sanchez\u2019s government has fended off the attacks as politically motivated, saying most of the migrants were pushed back from Ceuta within hours in \u201cclose coordination with the Moroccan authorities and with very little support from other European states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of Tuesday meeting\u2019s outcome, Europe is displaying a deeply damaging disunity as it faces security threats from Moscow, instability with Washington and economic tension with Beijing, said Alicia Garc\u00eda-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific and Middle East for the financial firm Natixis.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope has shown weakness again,\u201d she said. \u201cMassive weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanchez rattled by withering criticism from fellow EU leaders over Ceuta<\/h2>\n

EU leaders quickly pounced on Sanchez once videos from Ceuta went viral. Many blamed the incident on his government\u2019s progressive policies and publicly rallied for new border checks at sea, air and land ports of entry.<\/p>\n

They blamed a recent Spanish court ruling for triggering \u201cthis attack on our migration and asylum system,\u201d according to an open letter signed from the leaders of 22 EU countries, from Finland to Malta. <\/p>\n

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Spain\u2019s Supreme Court had ruled that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported without due process, unlike those who cross by land or climb Ceuta\u2019s border fence because they had not crossed a physical barrier.<\/p>\n

Sanchez said that the ruling had been intentionally misconstrued by migrant smugglers to convince thousands of people to cross by swimming around the border fence.<\/p>\n

The Socialist leader replied in his own letter by recalling that Spain had, in solidarity with the EU, taken in migrants who arrived to eastern European nations from Belarus in 2021<\/span> and to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa<\/span> in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Right-wing coalition had led migration policy overhaul in Brussels<\/h2>\n

Many right-wing politicians have won elections across the EU by promising to crackdown on migration \u2014 and they claim to have done so with the European Migration and Asylum Pact<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Newer, stricter regulations for asylum seekers and migrants largely replaced the previous migration system, which was widely considered a failure<\/span>. EU capitals now boast greater abilities to surveil, detain and deport migrants to so-called \u201csafe countries\u201d like Morocco or \u201creturn hubs\u201d outside the bloc.<\/p>\n

These new provisions have been met with skepticism from human rights groups<\/span>, including fears that deportation centers hosted abroad could morph into long-term holding facilities overflowing with asylum seekers stuck in legal limbo.<\/p>\n

Read more Runaway online rumors sparked frantic rush by migrants to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta<\/a><\/p>\n

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