EU Interior Ministers Hold Emergency Videoconference, Voice 'Full Solidarity' With Spain Over Ceuta

The Irish EU Council presidency convened an informal videoconference of home affairs ministers to address the Ceuta migration crisis, three days after the record migrant surge. Convened by Ireland's Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, member states and Schengen-associated countries expressed unified solidarity with Spain and praised the 'swift and effective' response of Spanish authorities, while discussing how to protect the EU's external borders from further mass crossings. The crisis exposed deep and continuing divisions among EU governments over migration solidarity and instrumentalization, coming just weeks after the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum entered full application on June 12. Protests continued in Ceuta through the following days, with hundreds demonstrating on August 9 under the banner 'Ceuta is Spain' over the government's handling of the crisis.