Ceuta leader to meet EU migration and Mediterranean commissioners in Brussels

Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas will travel to Brussels next week to seek a European response to the pressures facing the Spanish city. He is expected to meet European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner and Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica.

A European Commission spokesperson confirmed that Vivas had requested a meeting with both commissioners and said it was expected to take place. The date and agenda have not yet been disclosed. Šuica also confirmed the planned meeting on arriving at an informal EU foreign ministers’ council in Ireland.

“I will meet with the president of Ceuta next week. He will come to the European Commission. We will see how we can best help them,” Šuica said.

Vivas is also scheduled to visit the European Parliament, where he will meet European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber and the party’s Brussels delegations. Officials are working on a possible meeting with Parliament President Roberta Metsola, although that meeting remains unconfirmed.

The Ceuta president intends to present the city’s situation directly to EU institutions, raise the problems linked to the current crisis and request a response that reflects Ceuta’s special circumstances. The visit comes as the city continues to deal with the effects of the migration crisis of July 30, including pressure on public services, coexistence and the administration’s ability to respond.

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I will meet with the president of Ceuta next week. He will come to the European Commission. We will see how we can best help them.