Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel has praised Morocco’s response to irregular migration as “really very impressive,” while rejecting suggestions that July’s mass crossings into Ceuta presented an immediate threat to Europe’s passport-free Schengen area.
Speaking Saturday on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, near Milan, Rangel said Portugal had monitored the crisis “hour by hour,” receiving information and sharing it with the countries concerned.
“We can say there was no immediate threat to Schengen right as it happened,” he said, adding that Portugal and France would have been among the first countries affected by any onward movement from Spain.
More than 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on July 30, according to Spanish authorities, before most were returned.
The influx placed enormous pressure on the enclave and prompted Italy to introduce temporary checks on travelers arriving from Spain, with Madrid responding by applying similar controls to arrivals from Italy.
Although Spain belongs to the Schengen area, passengers traveling from Ceuta to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the European Union already undergo identity checks. Those arrangements reduced the possibility of migrants entering the enclave and then moving freely through the bloc without further screening.
The Italian government has defended its additional controls on security grounds, though critics have accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of using the crisis to reinforce her hard-line position on migration. Italy subsequently while Spain prolonged its reciprocal checks.
Rangel played down the disagreement between Rome and Madrid, describing it as a “small tension” that he expected the two governments to resolve. Spain and Italy, he stressed, remain friends despite their political differences over migration.
Portugal did not join a letter from several European leaders requesting emergency discussions on Ceuta, but Rangel said Lisbon supported convening EU interior ministers to assess the situation.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also said there is no evidence that Moroccan authorities orchestrated the crossings, while highlighting Rabat’s cooperation in returning most of those who entered Ceuta.
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