Pedro Sánchez is in the diplomatic doghouse. The Ceuta migrant crisis last week has prompted an extraordinary diplomatic spat, with EU states calling for Spain to be removed from the Schengen zone. Amid fury at Sánchez’s previous amnesty of 600,000 illegal migrants which they fear has served as a potent pull factor in the latest crisis, the EU has reportedly told Sánchez he must verify the figures his government has provided on removals, given doubts over Spain’s claim that the vast majority of the 60,000 that crossed into the Spanish enclave had been returned.
The hardening of European attitudes means the real diplomatic risk now lies not in uncompromisingly enforcing our border, but in appearing incapable of doing so.
This episode shows how far European attitudes have shifted since the Merkel ‘Wir schaffen das’ (‘We can manage this’) era of 2015. European leaders seem to have belatedly realised that the punishment from their electorates will be brutal and swift if they don’t get a grip of the illegal migration crisis.
European leaders – who for years portrayed robust border enforcement as somehow contrary to European values – now say, in the words of a letter signed by 22 European countries on 1 August: ‘We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings… to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible’. Enfin!
