The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted this Saturday that the "vast majority" of the approximately 70,000 people who entered irregularly in Ceuta in recent days have returned to Moroccan territory, with none of them having reached mainland Spain or other EU countries.
Von der Leyen has described this circumstance as "good news" and has expressed her recognition to the security forces of Spain and Morocco for the "effective work" carried out. She stated this in a message disseminated on her social media, in which she details the updated information provided to her by the Commissioners for Home Affairs and Immigration, Magnus Brunner, and the person responsible for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.
In her message, she emphasized that "Not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU. This demonstrates why controlling our European borders is so important. We have a solid system in place. But it needs to be strengthened even more," stressing that, despite the robustness of the current framework, it is still necessary to reinforce it.
In this regard, she insisted on the importance of monitoring "every critical entry point and maintaining close coordination among all authorities." Furthermore, she pointed out that from what happened in these last two days, "lessons learned can be drawn to improve" the "European resilience" against similar episodes in the future.
Von der Leyen also recalled that "the Commission has offered support to Spain from the very beginning" and assured that she will participate in the videoconference proposed by several European leaders to analyze what occurred. In her view, "Combating illegal migration requires solidarity and a united European response," thus reaffirming the need for joint action at the community level.