The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has responded to the criticisms made by the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni regarding the migration crisis in Ceuta, pointing out that Italy receives more than double the arrivals of irregular immigrants than Spain.
“Solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European treaties and data is not,” he said in a message on social media, in which he presents the figures of irregular immigrant entries according to Frontex, between the years 2021 and 2026.
The head of the Executive points out that, in this period 478,600 irregular immigrants have entered through Italy; through the Western Balkans 340,600; through Greece 259,800 while through Spain 234,760 have accessed and through the eastern border only 48,000.
“It is not time to divide, it is time to continue building a strong and united EU,” he indicated next after the criticisms received from the Meloni government, which proposed expelling Spain from the Schengen area after the massive entry of Moroccans into Ceuta.
The Italian leader said that the images coming from Ceuta were “shocking” and in her opinion demonstrate that “uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a real threat to the security of Europe’s borders.”
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The first response from the Executive came from the mouth of the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, who summoned the Italian ambassador in Spain to protest the proposal to exclude Spain from the European common area.
And during his speech from the autonomous city, Sánchez defended his migration policy which, he emphasized, has managed to reduce the arrivals of irregular migrants in recent years.
However, other European partners have supported the Italian proposal against Spain, such as the Prime Minister of Denmark, the socialist Mette Frederiksen who urged the European Union to “consider all options, including the suspension of Schengen cooperation.”
Along the same lines, France decided to strengthen controls at the border with Spain “given the situation observed in the enclave of Ceuta,” according to orders from the Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez and the Austrian Chancellor, Christian Stocker, demanded that Spain not allow “a single illegal migrant to reach the European continent,” emphasizing that the regularization of foreigners has resulted in an “incentive” for illegal migration.
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