BRUSSELS (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s migration policies have weathered withering criticism as leaders from across the European Union met Tuesday following last week’s rush of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa.
The sudden arrival of 72,000 migrants on Thursday and Friday sparked a humanitarian crisis in Ceuta and reignited the immigration debate in the 27-nation bloc, though most of the migrants soon went back. More than 80 migrants died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.
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, Gaza and Israel.
Sanchez’s government has dismissed the attacks as politically motivated, saying most of the migrants were pushed back from Ceuta within hours in “close coordination with the Moroccan authorities and with very little support from other European states.”
While ministers seemed to rally back around Sanchez after meeting Tuesday, Europe displayed a deeply damaging disunity in the aftermath of Ceuta as it faces security threats from Moscow, instability with Washington and economic tension with Beijing, said Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific and Middle East for the financial firm Natixis.
“Europe has shown weakness again,” she said. “Massive weakness.”
EU leaders quickly pounced on Sanchez once videos from Ceuta went viral. Many blamed the incident on his government’s progressive policies and publicly rallied for new border checks at sea, air and land ports of entry.