The European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, emphasized this Tuesday before the President of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, the "importance" of maintaining "sustained cooperation" between Spain, Morocco, and the European Union, after the meeting they both held in the afternoon in Brussels.
"Together with Juan Vivas today in Brussels, I expressed my full solidarity and that of the Commission with the population of Ceuta after the very harsh events of this summer. I congratulated the authorities, the emergency services, civil society, and the citizens for managing an exceptional situation," the commissioner stated in a message disseminated on social media.
In the same vein, she stressed that "Ceuta can count on European solidarity" and that she discussed with Vivas "the importance" of maintaining fluid relations with Rabat "to strengthen border management, prevent dangerous illegal crossings, combat human trafficking networks, and ensure effective returns and reintegrations, including those of minors, in accordance with International Law."
For his part, upon leaving the meeting, Vivas explained to the media that Suica offered to "put in as much effort and as many capabilities as are within her reach" with the aim of achieving "the return to normality in Ceuta."
He clarified, however, that this objective "obviously depends on Morocco collaborating in the necessary procedures and processes" to materialize the return of "the Moroccans who are currently in Ceuta" and who accessed the city on July 30 and 31 "in the shortest possible time," both in the case of adults and minors.
Coincidences with the European Commission on the next steps
Vivas, who has also held contacts in the community capital with the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, and with the team of the Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, did not detail specific commitments from the community executive regarding the autonomous city, but he did enumerate seven "coincidences" on the roadmap to follow.
Among those coincidences is the urgency for Ceuta to recover "urgently" normality through the "almost immediate" return to Morocco of the people who crossed the border irregularly on July 30 and 31 and who are still in the city.
Another of the shared conclusions is that "we must strengthen and guarantee the shielding of our border" because it is "the border of Europe and Spain," as well as that "the border must be respected by the neighboring country" so that "a good relationship of cooperation" can be maintained.
The commissioners and Vivas have also agreed on the need to reinforce the European presence in Ceuta and Melilla through a greater deployment of Frontex and the European Asylum Agency, in addition to the EU contributing to the city being able to "address the humanitarian emergency" arising from the crisis.
The seventh agreement is that Europe "must now more than ever be a lever for the future of the city," so that the crisis marks "a before and an after" and the community bloc articulates "a series of resources and norms" that facilitate "the takeoff of Ceuta, that allow and guarantee the security, stability, and prosperity of our citizens."