What are the problems of the European Union highlighted by the migrant crisis in Ceuta? Analysis

The migration crisis in Ceuta, Spain, has become one of the largest in the European Union in recent years and has once again called into question the effectiveness of the common migration policy. The events have shown that the EU countries are still unable to develop a unified approach to the protection of external borders, the distribution of responsibilities and rules for the reception of migrants. Some states require stricter controls, while others retain more flexible legalization mechanisms, which increases disagreements within the union. Against this background, the crisis in Ceuta has become another signal of the systemic problems of the European Union, read more about them in the Izvestia article.

Weak control of external borders

• Spain is facing unprecedented migration pressure in Ceuta: in a couple of days at the end of July, about 60,000 people arrived from Morocco in this Spanish enclave. Despite the fact that most of them have already been returned to Morocco, the death toll has exceeded 90 people. Shortly before that, the Spanish Supreme Court forbade the immediate expulsion, without individual consideration, of people detained at sea on their way to Ceuta and Melilla. The reason could also be disagreements between Rabat and Madrid, including over the cooperation of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez with Algeria on gas.

• Ceuta already faced a similar crisis in May 2021, when approximately 10,000 people crossed the border in just 48 hours. At that time, many attributed the events to the deterioration of relations between Spain and Morocco after the reception in Spain of the President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Brahim Ghali and the leader of the Polisario Front, which is fighting for independence in Western Sahara.

• In 2025, the number of migrants in the EU countries exceeded 64.2 million, an increase of 2 million over the year and more than 24 million since 2010, against the background of government policy, which was explained by the need to attract labor due to demographic problems. At the same time, Germany, Spain, France and Italy accepted almost 75% of asylum seekers. However, this course has led to an increase in the burden on social systems, increased pressure on the housing market and infrastructure, as well as to the aggravation of social and political disagreements around integration and migration control.

• Ensuring control over external borders remains one of the key challenges for the European Union. In 2024, the EU adopted the Migration and Asylum Pact (which entered into force on June 12, 2026), designed to tighten control over illegal migration and establish uniform rules for the countries of the Union. The document provides for increased border checks, accelerated refusals and deportations, as well as a mechanism for distributing responsibility between EU countries: states can accept migrants or pay 20,000 euros per person whom they refused to let in. The reform has attracted criticism from various sides: right-wing forces consider the measures insufficiently harsh, and human rights activists fear a deterioration in refugee protection. At the same time, Hungary and Poland opposed the pact, while Austria and Slovakia objected to certain provisions.

Enemy at the gates: German Christians are being attacked by migrants and liberals

Germany was hit by a wave of pogroms

• The crisis in Ceuta was the result of a chain of solutions, where an attempt to solve one problem led to the emergence of new ones. Europe has long relied on external sources of raw materials and labor, and instability in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America has increased migration to Europe. To control the flow of people, the EU has begun to move border security beyond its territory, concluding agreements with Turkey, Mauritania and Morocco and spending billions of euros on this. But such a system has made Europe dependent on neighboring countries, which can use the migration issue as an instrument of pressure. The situation in Ceuta (which was probably organized by Morocco) once again showed the weakness of this model. Europe cannot completely abandon migration due to demographic problems, but the current approach also creates new difficulties.

Migration crises remain one of the main unresolved problems of the European Union. Each new wave of migration reveals weaknesses in the external border protection system and differences in the approaches of the Member States. The EU regularly takes emergency measures, but they mostly eliminate the consequences of existing crises. At the same time, the common migration policy continues to face political disagreements between the countries of the union, which makes it difficult to develop long-term solutions. It turns out that each new crisis becomes another test of the EU's ability to act in concert.

Lack of real mutual support

• The current crisis in Ceuta has provoked serious divisions within the EU. Italy was the first to criticize the migration policy of the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez and announced the suspension of the Schengen Agreement with Spain for a month.

• Later, Finland supported the criticism of the Spanish government, while Denmark, Poland and Sweden also expressed claims against Madrid. At the same time, France reinforced the border with the military, and Germany called on the European Commission to focus on protecting the EU's external borders. Against the background of the crisis, an emergency meeting of EU interior ministers was convened, which will be held on August 4.

• The crisis in Ceuta has revealed deep divisions within the EU on migration and has shown the limitations of European solidarity mechanisms. The Spanish policy of legalizing migrants has become an additional source of controversy: Madrid expects to close the staff shortage and withdraw some foreigners from the shadow sector, while other countries fear an increased burden on the EU's overall migration system. The situation has shown that in the presence of formal agreements, the EU states retain different priorities and are not always ready to provide real support to partners when migration pressure increases.

National interests are at the forefront

• The migration policy of the European Union is based on general norms, but each state retains the right to independently determine many rules for the admission of foreigners. Denmark, Poland and Hungary are taking the toughest approach. Denmark provides temporary protection to refugees, links social benefits with integration, and has significantly complicated the procedure for obtaining citizenship. Poland and Hungary oppose the mandatory distribution of migrants between EU countries, strengthen border security and erect border barriers. Germany has also tightened its migration policy, accelerated deportations and expanded the list of countries whose citizens are more often denied asylum.

• Spain, Italy and Greece, which are in dire need of labor and are at the forefront of the migration flow, retain a more flexible approach, although they also had to tighten their policies. For example, Spain continues to implement legalization programs for foreigners who already live and work in the country. Italy and Greece remain the main entry points for migrants across the Mediterranean Sea, so they simultaneously accept arrivals and strengthen control at their external borders in accordance with EU requirements.

• The European Union is facing difficulties in resolving the migration issue due to disagreements between member states and a complex legal system. Italy, Spain and Greece receive the bulk of arrivals via the Mediterranean Sea, while other countries are often not ready to take on the same responsibility. European standards require individual consideration of asylum applications, which complicates the rapid return of illegal migrants. After entering one of the countries of the Schengen area, people can move within the EU without permanent border control, which increases the burden on states located near the external border of the union.

Europe's dependence on third countries

• The EU is building migration cooperation with Morocco and Turkey based on the principle of exchanging financial support and political concessions to control migrant flows. Morocco helps deter illegal crossings through Ceuta and Melilla and is considered an important partner by Brussels, although migration periodically becomes an instrument of pressure. Relations with Turkey are based on a 2016 agreement: Ankara restricts the influx of refugees to Europe in exchange for multibillion-dollar aid, dialogue on visa liberalization and other concessions. At the same time, Turkey uses the migration issue as a lever of influence on the EU, demanding additional economic and political benefits.

"The borders between NATO and the European Union are blurring"

Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar — on the military expenditures of the alliance, support for Ukraine and the risks for EU enterprises working in the military-industrial complex of Kiev

• Many people are leaving the countries of North and Tropical Africa due to poverty, high unemployment and lack of development opportunities. Additional factors are political instability, wars and persecution (we have written about the constant political upheavals on the African continent here and here). Social media also influences flows, often creating a false impression of a simple move to Europe and quick ways to get legal status. Most migrants expect to improve their standard of living and gain access to social protection.

• The crisis in Ceuta has shown the vulnerability of the EU's migration policy and has become a test for the Schengen area: even a local breakthrough of the external border can lead to the restoration of border controls within Europe. Therefore, free movement in the EU depends on the ability to effectively protect external borders.

• After the massive crisis of 2015, Europe is gradually shifting its focus from distributing migrants to preventing illegal entry, accelerating deportations, and cooperating with third countries. At the same time, the EU is increasingly relying on buffer states such as Morocco. At the same time, migration is becoming an important political issue: countries are increasingly willing to restrict freedom of movement for the sake of security.