The EU has revealed its lack of solidarity in the Ceuta migration crisis. As Tagesschau commentator Sabrina Fritz writes, the member states’ reaction to the mass influx of migrants at the Spanish enclave was a “test” that the EU failed. Instead of standing by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, many EU states heaped accusations on him – behavior that Fritz calls “shabby.”
The weekend’s events caught the EU completely unprepared. While the new asylum reform is designed for the normal case of individual migrants, suddenly tens of thousands of young people stormed into the EU. Many of them did not even want to apply for asylum but were seeking a better life – a group for which the system is not designed.
Lessons from Ceuta
Fritz draws three lessons from the crisis. First, the EU is not prepared for mass movements organized via social media. Second, the 27 member states slept on the development, even though the wave had been building for days. The EU must better monitor what happens at its borders through its intelligence services in the future.
Third, Ceuta shows how fragile solidarity in the EU is. As soon as pressure builds, it collapses. Fritz criticizes that Spain is attacked for its migration policy – such as issuing work visas – even though the country is economically better off than many other EU states, including Germany.
The crisis is also a signal to all those who want to harm the EU: they now know how quickly the community loses its nerve. Fritz calls on the EU to learn from its mistakes and act more united in the future.
Source: Tagesschau
