# Twenty Two of the EU's Twenty Seven Sign a Letter Demanding Emergency Talks on Ceuta

> The letter, initiated by Giorgia Meloni and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, asks for an urgent video meeting of interior ministers. France and Portugal, which border Spain, did not sign.

- Source: Italian Insider
- Canonical URL: https://italianinsider.net/en/article/eu-leaders-letter-emergency-talks-ceuta
- Author: Elena Moretti
- Section: World
- Other edition: https://italianinsider.net/article/eu-leaders-letter-emergency-talks-ceuta
- Published: 2026-08-01T12:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-01T12:15:00.000Z
- Tags: European Union, Migration, Ceuta, Meloni

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The leaders of 22 of the European Union's 27 member states signed an open letter on Saturday demanding that the bloc's interior ministers hold a video meeting as a matter of urgency, to agree a coordinated response to the sudden arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and to prevent further uncontrolled crossings. The letter said the signatories had a duty to deter and combat illegal migration.

It was initiated by Italy's Giorgia Meloni, whose government had just suspended Schengen arrangements with Spain, and by Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, who had said the day before that the Union should consider suspending Schengen cooperation with Spain. Among the other signatories were the German chancellor Friedrich Merz and the prime ministers of Hungary, Sweden and Poland.

The absences say as much as the signatures. The leaders of France and Portugal, the two countries that share a land border with Spain, did not sign.

A letter from 22 governments is a strong instrument for forcing a meeting and a weak one for deciding what happens in it. The Union has spent years failing to agree a permanent relocation mechanism, and an emergency video call convened in August is unlikely to be where that changes.

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Originally published by Italian Insider. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://italianinsider.net/en/article/eu-leaders-letter-emergency-talks-ceuta.