Michal rejects new Schengen borders over Ceuta migration crisis

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the European Union must help Spain address the migration crisis in Ceuta and prevent the Schengen area from fragmenting, ERR reported.

Michal said he had joined 22 other EU leaders in writing to the president of the European Commission, the president of the European Council and the holder of the EU presidency to seek a solution to the crisis.

He said Estonia supports controlled migration but cannot allow mass illegal immigration into the European Union. In his view, the EU must help Spain protect its external border.

“The emergence of new internal borders in the Schengen area is not in Estonia’s interests,” Michal wrote. He said the Schengen area was a major value that must be preserved, adding that Estonia takes every illegal border crossing seriously and that those organising such migration would be punished.

Isamaa party leader Urmas Reinsalu took a different position, saying that suspending Schengen arrangements with a member state could be a rational measure for creating new barriers to illegal migration in a critical situation.

Reinsalu said countries should fulfil their obligations and stop migration attacks. He added that Estonia was already helping other countries strengthen their external borders, including by recently sending its Estpol unit to assist at the Latvian border.

Michal said Spain could and should receive help from other European countries, the European Commission and Frontex in resolving the Ceuta crisis. Reinsalu said Estonia and like-minded countries should discuss the consequences for a member state that cannot prevent illegal migration.