Greece is among 22 EU leaders who signed a joint letter demanding tougher action on illegal immigration, directly target...

Greece is among 22 EU leaders who signed a joint letter demanding tougher action on illegal immigration, directly targeting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his government's mass migrant legalization program. The letter was sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin. The crisis erupted after roughly 50,000 irregular migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. While nearly all of them have since returned to Morocco and none reached continental Europe, the 22 signatories said the incident exposed a serious threat to the EU's external borders. The letter, initiated by Italy and Denmark, accuses Sanchez's plan to legalize up to 1.2 million undocumented migrants of acting as a "pull factor" that contributed to the crisis. The leaders wrote that they have a duty to "prevent effectively and combat relentlessly irregular migration" and to address "all policies that can act as pull factors, such as regularizing a very large number of irregular migrants." Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the first to publicly float suspending Spain from the Schengen Zone. France tightened border controls with Spain on Friday, and Italy imposed restrictions on travel from Spain to Italian ports and airports. Sanchez fired back, calling the push to suspend Spain from Schengen "not only contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that unite us, but also contrary to Europe's long-term interests." He accused his European partners of acting with "selfishness" and responding with "prejudices, fake news, ignorance, or political interest." Spain's foreign ministry noted that no one who entered Ceuta illegally qualifies for the legalization program, which required proof of residence in Spain before January 1, 2026. The 22 leaders have called for an emergency videoconference of EU interior ministers to coordinate next steps on the crisis. #Immigration #Schengen #EU