“Migration is a European challenge that requires a European response,” she wrote. “And in this, solidarity is fundamental.” The Commission, she said, had offered Spain financial and operational support, with Frontex, Europol and the EU asylum agency ready to assist.
Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner on Friday told Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska that the bloc was willing to “increase support for Spain” to “control the situation,” and to deploy members of Frontex, the EU agency that supports member countries in monitoring and managing the EU’s external borders, to Ceuta.
Frontex currently has staff deployed in Ceuta, as well as on the Canary Islands and parts of the Andalusian coastline.
Madrid has repeatedly declined to request that the agency’s presence in Spain be increased, insisting that border control falls under the jurisdiction of national authorities. Following a surge in migrant arrivals to Ceuta in 2021, and an increase in arrivals to the Canary Islands in 2024, Spain’s interior ministry rejected calls to ask for Frontex’s support, insisting it had sufficient resources to manage the situation.
‘We must do more’
Von der Leyen said the incident had exposed weaknesses in the bloc’s border management. “It is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points,” the Commission president wrote, including through “vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.”
She outlined five priorities: preventing irregular migration through stronger cooperation with partner countries, reinforcing the EU’s external borders, establishing early-warning systems, dismantling smuggling networks, and improving returns.