Spain’s interior ministry estimates 50,000 people entered Ceuta from Morocco, while the prime minister condemns a violation of territorial integrity and confirms half have already returned. <\/p>\n
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior estimates that roughly 50,000 people entered Ceuta from neighboring Morocco on Thursday and during the night from Thursday to Friday. The city’s president, however, puts the figure at 60,000. Meanwhile, the interior ministry reports that approximately 25,000 individuals have already voluntarily returned to Morocco.<\/p>\n
The death toll has also risen, with the latest information indicating that 34 people died while attempting to cross into Spanish territory. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in the enclave on Friday, stating that an attack occurred and Spain’s territorial integrity was violated. He thanked Moroccan authorities for cooperating in sending migrants back to their country and blamed the entire incident on smuggling mafias that lure many young people.<\/p>\n
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced that 3,000 soldiers have been sent to Ceuta and declared full solidarity and support for the residents. She also appealed to Moroccans not to let themselves be lured by empty promises, because ultimately they will have to return anyway.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X on Friday that the images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable and that dangerous crossings must be put to an end immediately, noting she has entrusted two commissioners with supporting actions to control the situation. She emphasized that the EU cannot allow anyone to arrive without respecting its rules, adding that smuggling networks facilitating migrant transport must be dismantled and individuals who crossed the enclave’s border in an uncontrolled manner must be sent back quickly and in accordance with rules. EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner is closely cooperating with Spain and is ready to go to flashpoints to provide additional operational support, including through the Frontex agency.<\/p>\n
Von der Leyen assured that EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Region Dubravka Suica remains in contact with her Moroccan counterpart, expressing conviction that the close partnership with Morocco will help achieve concrete results. Commissioner Brunner had already written on X on Thursday that protecting the EU’s external borders is a key part of the fight against illegal migration, adding that he informed Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska that the EU is ready to increase support for Spain, including via Frontex, to control the situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spain’s interior ministry estimates 50,000 people entered Ceuta from Morocco, while the prime minister condemns a violation of territorial integrity and confirms half have already returned. Scale of the Crossings and Voluntary Returns The Spanish Ministry of the Interior estimates that roughly 50,000 people entered Ceuta from neighboring Morocco on Thursday and during the night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-and-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}