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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Spain warns Moroccan claims over Ceuta and Melilla are degrading relations

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Under investigation
  • Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Moroccan ministers’ claims over Ceuta and Melilla were harming bilateral relations and vowed to reject doubts about Spain’s territorial integrity.
  • Albares will seek stronger European Union support for the two cities, including border reinforcement and possible entry into the customs union.
  • He said Spain still could not confirm who stood behind a July mass migrant entry into Ceuta, an episode under criminal investigation.

Spain is drawing a hard line over Ceuta and Melilla. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Madrid would not “tolerate any doubt, any comment” about the country’s territorial integrity after two Moroccan ministers renewed claims over the two North African cities.

tolerate any doubt, any comment

· José Manuel AlbaresThe Spanish foreign minister rejected doubts about Spain’s territorial integrity regarding Ceuta and Melilla.

Albares described those statements as damaging to bilateral relations. Speaking to Spain’s public broadcaster TVE, he said he would travel to Brussels on Tuesday to press for a stronger European Union “anchoring” of Ceuta and Melilla. He also wants the EU to help prevent a repeat of the mass migrant entry recorded on July 30 and 31.

More than 70,000 people swam into Ceuta from Morocco during that episode. More than 90% returned within hours, but thousands remained, creating tensions in the city. Albares said he would discuss with several European commissioners how to strengthen the border operation and how to expand economic activity in Ceuta and Melilla, including by exploring their entry into the EU customs union.

the most complex border to manage anywhere on the planet

· José Manuel AlbaresAlbares described the geographic and security challenge facing Ceuta and Melilla.

He said the cities’ geographic position makes them “the most complex border to manage anywhere on the planet.” Ceuta and Melilla are the only land borders between a European country and Africa, a distinction Madrid says Brussels must take into account.

of course, not behind any of this

· Moroccan foreign minister, as quoted by José Manuel AlbaresAlbares recounted the Moroccan minister’s denial of involvement in the mass migrant entry.

Albares also rejected certainty about Morocco’s role in the mass entry, despite opposition parties linking Rabat to the incident. Spain’s National Court is investigating the episode after identifying “clear and unquestionable facilitating management” by Morocco. Albares said his Moroccan counterpart told him that Morocco was “of course, not behind any of this.” The Spanish government, he added, was seeking “certainty” before making decisions. He also warned that the far right posed the EU’s “greatest threat,” saying outside forces had sought to divide Spaniards and Europeans during the Ceuta crisis.

greatest threat

· José Manuel AlbaresHe described the far right as the biggest threat to the European Union.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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