The Embassy of France in Spain explained this Monday that the government of Emmanuel Macron decided not to adhere to the letter signed by 22 European countries regarding the migratory situation in Ceuta because, in its view, it did not offer real support to Spain and "its main objective was to instrumentalize" the arrival of migrants at the border.
"France has not joined the letter from the 22 member states promoted by Italy, as it did not provide any concrete solidarity to Spain and its main objective was to instrumentalize the migratory wave in Ceuta against the Spanish government and not to resolve the situation in cooperation with the Moroccan authorities," sources from the Embassy told Europa Press.
In this line, the diplomatic representation argues that the text promoted by Rome "deliberately ignores that Ceuta does not benefit from the free movement of the Schengen area towards the Union and that no migrant has left Ceuta" heading to the community territory.
"Although Ceuta is part of the Schengen area, specific rules apply there. The controls on departure and arrival at the Spanish enclaves in North Africa are systematic. No migrant has reached the rest of the Union from Ceuta due to this specific crisis," it has argued.
The Embassy also highlighted that 48,300 migrants —96% of those who crossed from Morocco to the autonomous city— returned to Morocco in less than 24 hours, something that, in its view, shows that Rome is "out of place" and that Spain has demonstrated "capabilities" to "guarantee returns in accordance with the regulatory framework of the Union."
"(The letter) ignores the solidarity shown by the Union, including Spain, during difficult episodes of specific migratory waves at the border between Poland and Belarus in 2021 or in Lampedusa in 2023," the French legation emphasized.
It also reproached that the letter does not fit "within the fundamental balance between solidarity and responsibility on which the Pact on Asylum and Migration, which came into force on June 12, is based," also stressing that there has been a "significant" drop in irregular entries into the EU "through all migratory routes."
For this reason, the Embassy has emphasized that the French Government has opted for "a concrete and effective response" and for the principle of "solidarity," offering Spain its support "immediately or through Frontex," the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
In this way, against "comments detached from the facts or positions that border on instrumentalization," Paris claims that it has chosen "effectiveness and cooperation instead of a symbolic stance." "However, we have taken the lead to protect our national territory and, from the first hours, we have deployed additional means to reinforce controls at the Franco-Spanish border: four units of mobile forces, planes, and drones have been deployed," it has indicated.
The Embassy has added that Macron already proposed on Friday to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to convene a meeting of the Interior Ministers of the EU, a request that is also among the demands of the signatories of the letter.
The 22 European States signed a letter in which they related the crisis in Ceuta to the recent ruling of the Supreme Court that confirmed that Spanish immigration law does not allow for so-called "hot returns," a ruling that, they claim, would have been used to "trigger this attack" and "abuse" the European migration and asylum system.
In the letter, sent to the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, as well as to the Irish Prime Minister, Micheál Martin — whose country holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council —, the signatories declare themselves willing to "reinforce or reintroduce temporary controls" at internal borders to address the risk of secondary movements, despite the fact that no unauthorized movement has been detected from Ceuta to the rest of the European territory.