Ceuta mayor urges EU to take firmer stance towards Morocco

The European Union must reconsider its policy of cooperation with Morocco following the mass arrival of more than 80,000 irregular migrants in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in July, the city’s mayor Juan Jesús Vivas said on September 9.

Vivas, a member of Spain’s People’s Party (PP), said the incident should prompt Brussels to review its relationship with Rabat, arguing that Morocco could not maintain cooperation with Europe while allowing its borders to be used to put pressure on Ceuta, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“Morocco is willing to use border controls and migratory pressure, jeopardise our territorial integrity, cause the collapse of reception services, and destabilise Ceuta economically and socially,” he said.

Speaking in Brussels alongside European People’s Party lawmaker Javier Zarzalejos, Vivas called for greater EU involvement along Ceuta’s land border with Morocco.

He requested financial and security assistance, including the permanent deployment of Frontex in Ceuta and a special status within the EU for Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s other North African enclave.

Vivas also questioned whether Moroccan authorities were unaware of the mass crossing, pointing to a Spanish police report that said Moroccan authorities had engineered the event. The Spanish government has avoided directly blaming Rabat.

“They really didn’t know? If they did know, why didn’t they inform us given the good cooperative relationship?” Vivas asked.

He said Ceuta’s residents had the greatest interest in maintaining good relations between the EU and Morocco, but accused Rabat of twice using migration pressure to threaten the enclave’s territorial integrity, referring to a 2021 crisis when about 10,000 migrants entered Ceuta.

“Action must be taken to ensure this never happens again; neither Spain nor Europe should allow it.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev