On Aug. 1, in response to the storming of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by more than 70,000 migrants crossing from Morocco, 22 European leaders signed a letter criticizing Spain. The unwillingness of the vast majority of the European Union’s member states to provide support to the country whose borders were breached by unarmed foreigners is an ill omen for what the continent’s reaction to an armed attack would actually look like.
In their joint letter, the leaders laid blame for the border crisis at Spain’s decision to provide a path toward regularization for irregular migrants as well as a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling, arguing that these actions provided a pull factor with implications beyond the Pyrenees. By shifting responsibility onto Madrid for what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described as a “violation of Spain's territorial integrity,” as opposed to recognizing Spain as the country that carried the entire burden by virtue of its geography, European leaders have inadvertently weakened the potential of any new effort toward European collective defense.
On Aug. 1, in response to the storming of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by more than 70,000 migrants crossing from Morocco, 22 European leaders signed a letter criticizing Spain. The unwillingness of the vast majority of the European Union’s member states to provide support to the country whose borders were breached by unarmed foreigners is an ill omen for what the continent’s reaction to an armed attack would actually look like.
