Frontex / Spain : The crisis with Morocco is «political and diplomatic and not related to migration»

The crisis between Morocco and Spain is «political and diplomatic and not related to migration», Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of Frontex, which monitors the external borders of the European Union, said. 

Interviewed by El Mundo, the official recalled that the Spanish authorities refused to let Frontex agents in Ceuta. On this occasion, Leggeri reiterated Frontex's will to respond «immediately» to any need to strengthen control in the city.

For the record, on May 10, during his trip to Madrid, Fabrice Leggeri offered Frontex assistance to Interior Minister Fernado Grande Marlaska to deal with migration flows. After the migration crisis in Ceuta, the European Union urged Spain to rely on Frontex.

Since January 29, 2021, Spain has been cooperating with Frontex in two operations in Indalo (Almeria) and the Canary Islands. A third will be activated next June in the waters of Minerva (in Malaga). Ceuta and Melilla are not part of this program.

In April, Fabrice Leggeri admitted in an interview with France24 that «some still do not want an EU agency with border guards».