The European Parliament invoked “hybrid warfare” in its September 17 resolution on the Ceuta crossings, adopting language that goes beyond the evidence of Moroccan involvement described in its own research briefing and statements by Spanish authorities.
The nonbinding text passed by 339 votes to 225, with 16 abstentions. Submitted by the European People’s Party, it drew support from the three far-right groups, while Socialist, Green and Left lawmakers opposed it and liberals split.
The resolution represents a political majority’s assessment of the crisis, rather than an investigative finding establishing who organized it.
A more cautious research account
A September 10 briefing by Parliament’s research service identified several possible factors behind the mass arrivals: misinformation, social media, smuggling networks, Spain’s migrant regularization program and a Supreme Court ruling concerning returns by sea.
It also cited consultancy Golden Owl’s assessment that a deliberate digital campaign helped drive the crossings. That assessment raises questions about coordination but does not, by itself, establish Moroccan government responsibility.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had said there was no evidence linking Morocco to the arrivals. Guardia Civil examinations of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram groups had neither identified organizers nor established links to Moroccan authorities, according to the accounts cited.
Border cooperation becomes a wider political demand
The resolution calls for stronger Spanish-Moroccan cooperation on border controls, returns and action against smuggling, while linking partner-country cooperation to European funding.
It also criticizes large-scale migrant regularizations, targeting a policy of Sánchez’s government, and rejects challenges to Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco claims.
Those provisions extend the text beyond managing arrivals into disputes over Spanish domestic policy, EU financing and territorial sovereignty.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.