The European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, recently had a conversation with the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in which he described as "important and necessary" the role of Spain in the protection of the external borders of the European Union following the latest migration crisis experienced in Ceuta.
As he explained through his social media, the community official expressed the support of the European Commission to the Spanish authorities and insisted that Brussels maintains its total willingness to offer direct support on the ground when necessary.
In his message, Brunner emphasized: "Very good conversation today with Minister Grande-Marlaska. Spain is doing important and necessary work to secure our shared external borders," thus highlighting the relevance of the Spanish effort in common border control.
The commissioner also reiterated that the European Union is prepared to mobilize the resources of the European agencies Frontex, Europol, and the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) "to the fullest extent possible" if the Spanish authorities request that operational reinforcement.
This contact between Brussels and Madrid occurs a few weeks after the massive swimming crossing of thousands of people to Ceuta, an episode that triggered criticism from several member states regarding Spanish migration policy, linking the recent extraordinary regularization of migrants with the arrival of up to 80,000 people to the territory of the Union.