European Union holds emergency meeting after Ceuta influx
Italy has imposed one month of checks on non-EU arrivals from Spain, triggering a Schengen dispute with Madrid.
The European Union will hold an emergency video conference of interior ministers on Tuesday, Aug. 4, after tens of thousands of migrants crossed into Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the north African coast bordering Morocco. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed the meeting after 22 member states sent a letter to EU leaders and the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union. Ireland will lead the meeting to assess the crisis in Ceuta and shape a joint political response. As the influx begins to ease, tensions widened after Italy imposed checks on non-EU citizens arriving from Spain through airports and ports for one month. The move drew sharp protests from the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which said it was undermining Schengen's open-border principle.
Sources
Earlier in this story
- 2 hours agoSpain closes Melilla border, adds troops in Ceuta
- 2 hours agoMigrants surge into Spain's Ceuta as enclave seeks emergency aid
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- 3 hours agoEuropean Union holds emergency meeting after Ceuta influxreading now
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