Danish police officers were in Ceuta before migrant crisis

Two Danish dog handlers were deployed to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta as part of a planned Frontex operation, and their presence was unrelated to the recent surge in migrants, according to Rigspolitiet (the Danish National Police).

The officers have been stationed in Ceuta for about eight weeks and have not patrolled the migrant port or been involved in handling the extraordinary migrant situation. Their duties remained the same as before the influx, Rigspolitiet stated in a written comment to Ritzau.

The deployment was agreed upon at the end of 2025, with Danish police contributing two dog handlers and two trained dogs to Ceuta as part of Denmark's contribution to Frontex. Frontex, the European Union's border agency, is tasked with helping EU countries secure their external borders, halt illegal migration, and combat cross-border crime.

Danish police deploy approximately 75-80 officers annually to Frontex operations in various EU and Schengen Area countries, including Spain. Ceuta, a Spanish exclave on the North African coast bordering Morocco, has a population of about 85,000. Last week, tens of thousands of migrants attempted to cross the border from Morocco into Ceuta, hoping for a future in Europe. The sudden surge caught many by surprise, with migrants primarily swimming to Ceuta from the area around the Moroccan city of Fnideq. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska reported that at least 75 people died attempting to reach Ceuta, and the majority of the approximately 72,000 migrants have since been returned.