Von der Leyen: EU border security requires shared responsibility, ministers to meet online

Interior ministers of the European Union will hold an emergency videoconference on Tuesday to discuss the flow of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The meeting comes after tens of thousands of migrants entered Ceuta chaotically from Morocco last week, an event that has strained relations between several of the EU’s 27 member states.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that protecting the external borders is a “shared European responsibility.” In a letter addressed to him, she praised the “rapid management” of the situation.

However, von der Leyen stressed that recent events demonstrate the need for further measures at the most critical border points. She called for “vigilant monitoring” and the use of physical barriers when deemed necessary.

According to the president of the European Commission, Tuesday’s videoconference should also serve to draw “lessons” from the developments in Ceuta. In response to illegal migration, she called for “a common European response, united action and solidarity.”

Von der Leyen also suggested that Brussels could offer Morocco more support and called on the EU to “intensify its efforts” in five areas: preventing irregular migration through cooperation with partner countries; strengthening the external borders; establishing early-warning systems; cracking down on migrant-smuggling networks; and strengthening return procedures.