Ireland’s government has praised Spain’s Pedro Sánchez for the socialist leader’s handling of the recent migrant surge on Spain’s borders.
Speaking on behalf of both the government and the European Council — of which Ireland currently serves as chair – Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan claimed that Sánchez’s response to the crisis was “swift”.
Despite the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants on the border of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta resulting in the deaths of dozens, the minister – who chaired an EU council meeting on the issue on Tuesday – said that the entire EU should stand behind Spain’s actions.
“The EU is united and stands ready to support Spain and protect our external borders from illegal migration. We commend Spain for their swift response to the situation in Ceuta and extend our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life,” he said.
“The EU’s external borders are our shared responsibility, and migration requires a united European response.”
O’Callaghan’s comments represent the latest attempts by Ireland to back Spain over the recent scandal, with Sánchez’s government having come under heavy scrutiny from the majority of other member states for its lax border control.
Giorgia Meloni’s Italy had meanwhile suggested Spain should be suspended from the Schengen free travel area over the crisis, arguing that Spain’s failure to properly handle the migrant surge represented a danger to Europe.
Others have slammed Sánchez for his mass amnesty of hundreds of up to one million migrants in Spain, with the country working to “regularise” its illegal population despite possible dangers to EU border security.
Migrants granted amnesty under the scheme will be given the chance to later obtain Spanish and EU citizenship in the future so long as they meet the relevant criteria.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has meanwhile written in an Op-Ed that mass migrant waves were now being used as a weapon against Europe, and that certain protections for would-be refugees needed to be weakened or partially suspended to protect the bloc.
“Alongside conventional military threats and cyberattacks, the EU is increasingly confronted with a more insidious form of hybrid pressure: the deliberate instrumentalization of migration by state and nonstate actors seeking to test Europe’s resilience, undermine its cohesion and extract political concessions,” he said.
“Recent events at Europe’s borders, most notably in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, are the latest reminder that migration is no longer just a humanitarian issue or management challenge. In some cases, it has become a tool of geopolitical coercion.”
“In such extreme circumstances, the immediate and full application of standard asylum and reception systems for all arrivals is not simply difficult — it is often impossible. Systems risk paralysis, public trust erodes and the very functioning of Schengen is put under strain.”
“Europe needs to acknowledge this gap and act decisively,” he added.