Ceuta, Spain attacks Italy: “You are the country with the highest number of irregular entries in Europe”

“There have been countries and governments that have not proved themselves up to par”, as well as politicians and parties, “even in Spain”, declared Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares to the RTVE broadcaster. “The Italian government was one of them. Here in Spain I hear irresponsible statements from the Popular Party and Vox,” he continued. “This is a moment in which I demand and ask for unity from all political forces around two Spanish cities, Ceuta and Melilla, and unity from all Europeans around two European cities,” he said, convinced of the “specificity” of the border of both autonomous cities. “It is the only external border of the European Union that is land with Africa. We cannot face that border as we face any other border city in Europe”, argued the head of Spanish diplomacy, insisting that this should also be recognized by Brussels, in view of the meeting of Interior Ministers to be held tomorrow. “Strengthen these mechanisms and remind all EU states that without solidarity there is no Europe”.

As for Italy, Albares then recalled, it is the country with the highest number of irregular entries into Europe, while Spain is the one with the lowest number. “Italy would like to resolve the situation in Lampedusa” as that of Ceuta was resolved, he underlined.

At the beginning of the interview, Albares underlined Morocco’s collaborative attitude from the beginning: “The vast majority of those who entered have already returned to Morocco and we continue to offer our collaboration so that even the last person to enter can go back”, declared the minister in an interview on the program ‘La Hora de la 1’. What happened in the autonomous city between last Thursday and Friday, when at least 50 thousand people from Morocco arrived irregularly by swimming, is for Albares an “unprecedented event”, but so is “the repatriation” in 48 hours of those thousands of people, “with the full collaboration of Morocco”. When asked whether the African country is a reliable partner, the minister was categorical: “I stick to the facts. And the facts are that, from the first moment, Morocco offered its collaboration to try to stop that flow of people and, above all, for them to immediately go back”.

There was an “unusual activity” on social media that “amplified and distorted” the ruling of the Supreme Court – which at the beginning of July had established that it was not possible to “quickly” repatriate people who had arrived by swimming to their countries of origin -, and that there was also a “synchronization of the reactionary international which, with great rapidity, intervened to amplify what was happening. And also to spread lies and false news about the Schengen area, about its integrity and on the actions of Spain”.