EU says Ceuta border test passed, reviews Italy's Schengen suspension after 70,000 cross in hours

Over 70,000 people crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in a few hours, driven by criminal smuggling networks and disinformation on social media, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner said after an emergency videoconference of interior ministers. Brunner put the number of lives lost at 75. Spanish authorities have confirmed 72 deaths on the Spanish side of the border and the overall toll from the crossing stands at at least 83. Brunner declared that the EU had passed the test: "Europe, in my view, has decisively passed this test. People did not manage to enter the Schengen area and the security situation at the border was resolved quickly." Spain confirmed that practically all those who entered Ceuta have now returned.

Italy's suspension of Schengen rules towards Spain will be evaluated for proportionality, Brunner said, noting the situation had evolved since the measure was taken and that Spain had confirmed some people returned to Morocco, removing the risk of secondary movements. Separately, Brunner called Spain's regularization of over 600,000 migrants "not a good signal for the rest of Europe," though ministers did not discuss a direct link to the Ceuta incidents. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said all 27 member states agreed that Schengen is "not the problem, but the solution," and announced that France had significantly reinforced controls at the Franco-Spanish border, with five mobile units covering 37 crossing points and an additional 186 personnel from the rapid border intervention force deploying from tomorrow.