German minister praises Spain, Morocco for swift response to Ceuta migrant crisis

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has urged the EU Commission to make the protection of Europe's external borders an "absolute priority." He commended Spain and Morocco for their rapid action in resolving a crisis involving tens of thousands of migrants arriving in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

“

Spain and Morocco have jointly managed to quickly resolve this crisis, which logically caused great concern in Europe. I welcome this very much.

"Spain and Morocco have jointly managed to quickly resolve this crisis, which logically caused great concern in Europe. I welcome this very much," Wadephul told Bild am Sonntag. He emphasized that effective migration policy requires cooperation with countries outside Europe, such as Morocco, to control illegal migration.

“

To control illegal migration, we need partners outside Europe, like Morocco in this case.

Wadephul described the situation in Ceuta as an "absolute stress test" that Europe passed, but also highlighted Europe's vulnerability. He expects the EU Commission to work assertively on securing external borders to prevent further endangerment of the Schengen system's open internal borders.

“

The situation in Ceuta in the past few days was an absolute stress test, which we passed.

Earlier, CDU leader Friedrich Merz also called for better protection of EU external borders. European Parliament member Manfred Weber (CSU) advocated for strengthening the European border guard agency, Frontex, to secure the EU's common external border. Weber questioned the extent to which Europe can take command at the border during exceptional situations and suggested consequences if an EU country does not utilize offered assistance from Frontex.

“

We need a strengthened Frontex that secures our common external border for us in the future.