Lithuanian ruling party leader Virginijus Sinkevičius on Wednesday dismissed calls by some European Union member states to expel Spain from the Schengen free-travel area following last week’s surge in migrant arrivals in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, calling such proposals “populism”.
Sinkevičius, who leads the governing Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, said the migration crisis should instead be addressed by strengthening the European Union’s external borders.
“There is no mechanism under the Schengen rules to remove a member state from the area, so such proposals are unfounded,” he said.
His comments came after some EU countries called for tougher action against Spain following the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.
Spanish authorities moved quickly to return the migrants. Madrid confirmed Tuesday that about 70,000 of the 72,000 people who crossed into the enclave last week had already been returned to Morocco. At least 75 migrants died while attempting to reach Ceuta.
