The interior ministers of the 27 EU countries held an emergency meeting by videoconference on Tuesday August 4, a few days after the influx of tens of thousands of people from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. “All member states, all without exception, have shown their solidarity with Spain,” assured French Minister Laurent Nuñez after the meeting.

Published on: 08/04/2026 - 4:35 p.m. Modified on: 08/04/2026 - 5:32 p.m.

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Bring down the temperature: the Europeans sought on Tuesday August 4 to bury the hatchet after the migration crisis in Ceuta and the strong diplomatic tensions it caused.

The influx of tens of thousands of people into this Spanish enclave in North Africa "has put us to the test", underlined the European Commissioner responsible for migration issues, Magnus Brunner. “It was a crisis, but fortunately it is now behind us,” he underlined after an exchange between the 27 EU countries.

The incident is over: this is the message that the EU and its member states tried to relay after an emergency meeting between interior ministers. For more than three hours, these officials returned to the episode in Ceuta, which highlighted the fragilities of European cooperation on migration issues.

“All Member States, all without exception, have shown their solidarity with Spain,” underlined French Minister Laurent Nuñez. A demonstration of unity which contrasts sharply with the strong tensions that appeared at the height of the crisis.

Read alsoMigration policy: the Ceuta crisis revives European divisions

Firmness versus solidarity

With missives, counter-missives and invectives on social networks, two camps opposed each other for several days. On one side there was the Spain of Pedro Sanchez, whose government defends a more open approach to migration matters. On the other hand, the EU states favoring a very firm migratory line, such as Italy or Denmark.

From the first photos and videos of migrants illegally crossing the Spanish-Moroccan border on foot or by swimming, these countries stepped up to the plate, deploring that “uncontrolled immigration” constitutes “a threat to Europe”.

Tensions were first concentrated around the Schengen area, this European free movement zone from which Italy demanded on Thursday that Spain be excluded – a politically explosive measure contrary to European law. Then around much broader differences on questions of solidarity and firmness.

The Spanish Prime Minister thus lashed out during the weekend against the "selfish" attitude of certain EU countries. When 22 countries, led by Italy, Denmark, Germany and Hungary, on the contrary continued to defend their firm line on immigration. And took the opportunity to promote the new European rules, which notably authorize the sending of migrants to centers located outside the borders of the European Union.

France chose not to side with this camp, judging that such a reading amounted to exploiting the crisis occurring in the Spanish enclave. While the vast majority of migrants who crossed the border had already been returned to Morocco.

Foreign interference

If public statements are to be believed, the mood around all these issues was much more conciliatory on Tuesday.

According to Laurent Nuñez, all the participants in the meeting have now "deplored that thanks to the circulation of a certain number of images" on the Ceuta crisis, "we have had a certain number of informational interferences from foreign States which have used these images to criticize the migration management policy of the European Union, to try to divide the Member States among themselves".

Stressing that "no member state had an interest in division and that all had an interest in solidarity", the French minister affirmed that what was said during this videoconference meeting was "from this point of view (...) very reassuring", with "messages of great solidarity".

“All the Member States, all without exception, expressed their solidarity with Spain. They praised the management that had been that of the Spanish government” as well as “the remarkable cooperation with Morocco”, he also assured.

With AFP

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