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Stronger EU borders needed after Ceuta crisis, von der Leyen says

The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries. In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.” She praised the Spanish socialist leader’s swift handling of the crisis, after the vast majority of migrants left Ceuta and Spain officials began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier at the border ‌with Morocco. “Order has been restored and the returns system in place worked,” she wrote in the letter. Spain ⁠estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding initial estimates 50,000 having arrived in the enclave on North African territory on Thursday. Authorities in Ceuta reported that 88 people died trying to reach the territory, while at least 11 deaths have been recorded in Morocco. Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave, have the EU’s only land border with Africa. Both cities see periodic surges in attempted crossings, although neither permits onward free movement to the EU as they are outside the border-free Schengen zone. EU interior ministers will hold emergency talks on Tuesday, which von der Leyen said would be a chance to draw lessons from the crossings. The EU, she said, should double down on five areas: strengthening co-operation with non-EU countries to prevent migration; stronger external borders; implementing early warning systems; dismantling smuggling networks; and boosting returns of people with no right to stay. Italian media reported that Giorgia Meloni’s government wanted to accelerate the opening of offshore migration centres, which Europe’s top human rights expert recently said risk becoming “human rights black holes”. The EU opened the door to offshore detention centres in June in an unprecedented departure from legal norms as part of a law aiming to increase the deportations of people with no legal right to stay. Amid heavy criticism of the EU’s divided response to the Ceuta border crossings, von der Leyen stressed that Spain could access EU funds as well as support from the Frontex border agency. So far Madrid has not requested the assistance of Frontex. The crossings – seized on by far-right politicians across Europe – have exposed deep divisions over migration that have left Spain’s socialist leader isolated. Over the weekend Sánchez criticised other governments for failing to support Spain, after Italy and Denmark led calls for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone. Sánchez said such an attitude was “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest”, contrary to European and humanitarian law “and the principles of solidarity that bind us together”. Italy and Denmark also organised a letter signed by 20 other EU member states that appeared to blame the crisis on Sánchez’s decision to regularise the status of 500,000 migrants without documents. “We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration,” the 22 leaders wrote, arguing for the need to address “all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularisation of [a] very large number of irregular migrants”. Academic research has found a weak link, at most, between regularisation programmes and arrivals of irregular migrants. Michele LeVoy, the director of Picum, an umbrella group that campaigns for the rights of undocumented migrants, said regularisation programmes had been criticised by EU governments for the last two decades. “If an EU country offers regularisation possibilities, other member states believe that it may invite secondary movement [onward movement to other EU member states] – that is what EU member states don’t want and that explains most likely the harsh response.” Amid widespread suspicion that Morocco helped fuel the crisis, von der Leyen described the country as “an important strategic partner”, especially in combating “illegal migration”. Officials said that before the Ceuta crossings, the European Commission was looking to upgrade the EU’s diplomatic relationship with Morocco to a “strategic and comprehensive partnership”. The EU already has similar wide-ranging agreements with Egypt and Tunisia, which include pledges to stem migration, but have been heavily criticised by rights groups. Von der Leyen wrote: “On anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco.” Rights groups said people seeking work or fleeing persecution needed routes to move safely. LeVoy said: “On Ceuta, political games are being played over the lives of people on both sides of the border – those who hope for a better life, and those who are made to fear a so-called ‘invasion’. But what happened in and around Ceuta is fundamentally the result of Europe’s inaction on decent work permits and other regular pathways and the dismantling of its asylum systems.”

Middle East crisis live: Trump says Iran ‘unbelievably duplicitous’ and US blockade will continue until ‘deal or total surrender’

Donald Trump has lashed out after Iran denied it was in negotiations with the United States, declaring in an angry social media post that a US military blockade will continue until there is a “Deal, or Total surrender.” Calling Iranian leaders “duplicitous” for “openly and proudly” saying Iran was not negotiating, Trump wrote: “Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades.” The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform: Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say “beg,” talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with “Oman.” They then go on to give their usual blather in saying, the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them, when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our “Blockade” or, as some say, “The United States Wall of Steel!” Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished. Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades. It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!

Anti-war politician flees Russia amid pre-election crackdown on dissent

The prominent Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin has fled to Paris as Moscow tightens its grip on dissent before parliamentary elections later this year. Nadezhdin, a veteran liberal politician, gained international prominence during Russia’s 2024 presidential election when his long-shot campaign against Vladimir Putin unexpectedly gathered momentum before electoral authorities barred him from running. Since his presidential campaign, Nadezhdin, 63, has remained one of the last well-known Russian public figures to publicly oppose the war in Ukraine. That made him an increasingly uncomfortable figure for the Kremlin. “Good news: I’m alive and free. Unfortunately, I’m not in Russia for the time being,” Nadezhdin said in a video filmed in front of the Eiffel Tower. He added that he needed “to look around and figure out life going forward”. Last month, less than three weeks after registering to run in September’s parliamentary elections, he was briefly detained and accused of a minor administrative violation in what was widely seen as an attempt to intimidate him and undermine his candidacy. The same month, the justice ministry designated Nadezhdin a “foreign agent” – a label that carries onerous reporting requirements, increased government scrutiny, and a powerful stigma in Russia. The designation, combined with a conviction on an extremism-related administrative charge, barred him from running in September’s parliamentary elections, which are widely expected to be tightly controlled by the Kremlin. In an interview with the Russian independent outlet Meduza last month, Nadezhdin said he and his family were considering leaving Russia as pressure from the authorities intensified. While he said he wanted to remain in the country and run in the parliamentary elections, he acknowledged that the growing risk of imprisonment was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities launched an unprecedented crackdown on dissent, targeting independent media, human rights groups, civil society organisations and critics of the war. Hundreds have been imprisoned and thousands more have fled the country. Putin’s ruling United Russia party is seeking to preserve its dominance in the lower house of parliament in September’s state-managed elections, in which no genuine opposition is allowed to take part. The vote comes amid signs of growing public fatigue with the war in Ukraine, as fuel shortages and mounting economic pressures weigh on Russians, leaving the Kremlin increasingly unwilling to tolerate even token opposition.

Paris prosecutor investigates alleged bullying in government departments after suicide attempt

The Paris state prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry into alleged workplace bullying after the attempted suicide of a staff member in a department connected to the French prime minister’s office, France Inter radio has revealed. The public radio station reported on Monday that two government workers in different departments had ended their lives in the past year, and two others had attempted suicide. The radio station said complaints of alleged workplace bullying had been made. A complaint had been made by a staff representative to the Paris prosecutor in June over alleged bullying in certain government departments, the station said. The prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry. A document seen by France Inter and AFP said a complaint had been made that “presumed institutional bullying” had allegedly led a staff member to attempt to end their life. Three internal government inquiries have also been opened into specific cases and broader workplace wellbeing. The allegations of workplace bullying relate to a group of dozens of government departments and missions working under the umbrella of services of the prime minister. The staff member at the centre of the prosecutor’s preliminary inquiry worked in a service that handled issues related to correspondence for the prime minister’s office, France Inter reported. The woman’s lawyer, Christelle Mazza, told the radio station: “My client had been made [to feel] invisible. She was no longer invited to attend meetings, had been taken off the staff list, treated as if she was no one. She was mocked and jeered at as if it was playground bullying, [she was] ostracised.” The lawyer said difficulties for staff had been compounded by the instability of governments after Emmanuel Macron dissolved the national assembly and called a snap election in June 2024. In the two years from June 2024 to June 2026, there were four prime ministers: Gabriel Attal in a caretaker role, Michel Barnier, François Bayrou and Sébastien Lecornu. No wrongdoing was alleged of the prime ministers. In a statement, two senior officials in the department of services of the prime minister expressed full respect and support to colleagues and families after the suicides and attempted suicides. They said psychological welfare was “a constant priority” for the prime minister’s services and a specialist audit on workplace wellbeing would be conducted. One case of attempted suicide was investigated and found not to be connected to the government service, they said. Another case of attempted suicide was at the centre of an administrative inquiry after allegations of bullying. For the two deaths by suicide, “investigations are under way in close cooperation with trade union staff representatives”, they said. The officials added: “None of the people concerned worked directly with the prime minister or in his office.” • In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Ceuta leader accuses Morocco over ‘atrocity’ of mass border crossing

A growing chorus of voices have accused Morocco of helping to fuel the crisis in Ceuta, with the leader of the Spanish enclave describing last week’s border crossings as an attack on Spain’s territorial integrity that was seen as being “if not orchestrated, at least encouraged or permitted by Morocco”. Spanish officials ⁠said on Monday that an estimated 69,500 people who had arrived late last week in Ceuta, a tiny Spanish territory in north Africa, had returned to Morocco in recent days. Around 2,500 people who had made the crossing were believed to still be in Ceuta. The extraordinary influx had overwhelmed the city of 84,000 people and set off a political crisis across the EU as some member states laid blame on Spain. In Ceuta, leaders pointed to the broader picture of what had transpired. “It’s an atrocity,” said Juan Jesús Vivas, the long-serving conservative leader of the territory. “There are 88 bodies in the morgue, and there are more on the other side of the border.” He said local people watched the events play out with a mix of sadness, worry and anguish. “People see this not as a migration crisis; it was fundamentally an attack, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,” Vivas told El País newspaper. “People felt that this, if not orchestrated, was at least encouraged or permitted by Morocco.” He drew a parallel with May 2021 when Rabat loosened border controls, allowing 10,000 people to cross into Ceuta over the course of two days, during a diplomatic standoff over Madrid’s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. This time around, analysts have suggested that Spain’s recent rapprochement with Rabat’s arch-enemy Algeria could have triggered a response from Morocco. Speaking on Monday, Spain’s defence minister, Margarita Robles, also seemingly signalled Rabat’s involvement. “Neither Spain nor Morocco can look the other way when it comes to this tragedy,” she told reporters. “I ask the Moroccan government to fully investigate what happened.” The insinuation appeared to be backed by the preliminary assessment of Spanish intelligence services, who cited suspicions that the influx had not been planned by Moroccan authorities but concluded that Morocco had failed to stem the tide of people rushing towards the border and in some cases had even facilitated their passage. Intelligence sources told El País that the roots of the influx probably lay in a hoax that had swiftly spread across social media after a Spanish supreme court ruling that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported. As the hoax gained steam online, Moroccan border surveillance dwindled to a minimum until it was completely lifted late last week, allowing tens of thousands of people to stream through. In Ceuta on Monday, hundreds of people continued to sleep rough on the beach or near Ceuta’s mosques. One local official told reporters that those who remained in the city included 862 unaccompanied minors. Ashraf, 28, said he had defied his mother’s warnings against crossing into Spain after spotting posts on social media that said the border had been opened. While he had made it to Ceuta, what had followed was a days-long ordeal as he scrambled to find food and shelter while fending off the memories of what he had lived through. “You might see me smile a little but inside I’m shattered,” the Moroccan national said as he recalled swimming past bodies to reach Ceuta. “There were so many people in the sea. Everyone was trying to grab on to you to save themselves, and you were trying to escape and move forward so they wouldn’t drag you down or drown you. The Moroccan police were pushing us toward the water and telling us ‘swim, swim’.” Others were desperately seeking loved ones who were missing. One mother said she had been roaming the streets of Ceuta for days, frantically searching for any sign of her children aged 13 and 16. She had left Morocco alone, finding out later that her two children had followed her by plunging into the sea to make their way around the border. “I need help,” she said as she held up a photo of a smiling young boy flashing a thumbs-up sign. “Some migrants told me they had seen them in Ceuta, but I can’t find them.” Across the EU, the crisis in Ceuta had seemingly ushered in a moment of reckoning after a handful of EU countries responded to the crisis by calling for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone. Italy said it had suspended passport-free Schengen travel arrangements with Spain for one month, despite the fact that Ceuta is not part of Schengen. Before an emergency video meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday to address the crisis, Spain’s foreign minister said the country would demand solidarity from EU members after several had, in his view, “fallen short” of what was expected. “There was a synchronised reactionary international effort that very quickly amplified what was happening, spreading lies and fake news about the integrity of the Schengen area and about Spain’s actions,” José Manuel Albares told the broadcaster TVE. “Unfortunately, these falsehoods have even been amplified by some European governments.” What had transpired in Ceuta was “very unusual”, he said. “Spain currently has the lowest number of irregular entries on the Mediterranean route,” he added, while Italy “was the country with the highest number of irregular entries in Europe.” He said he had been in contact with Moroccan authorities throughout the crisis. “They showed a willingness from the very beginning to mobilise police forces to help stem the flow of migrants.” Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said in a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, that the Tuesday meeting would be a chance to draw lessons from what happened in Ceuta, and she commended Madrid for its swift handling of the crisis. “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points,” she said. At a meeting of member states on Saturday, the Guardian was told that while Italy and Denmark, with some support from Poland and Sweden, had criticised Spain for what had happened, there was a strong suspicion that the crisis was not an accident but had been coordinated. There was widespread recognition that Spain could not simply pin the blame on Morocco, given the close cooperation needed to return those who had crossed and, in the longer term, for migration control and security, a source said. EU states also spoke about the threat of Russian disinformation and how it could exploit the crisis to heighten tensions across the bloc, the source added. The concerns came into public view late last week when Ukraine’s acting foreign minister said more than 1,500 publications regarding Ceuta had been identified in pro-Russian networks. “We have detected an intensive Russian propaganda campaign across Europe using pictures from Ceuta to sow destabilisation,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media. “This is not about the situation itself but about the way Russia tries to exploit any topic that can benefit its agenda.”

Iran in talks with Oman over shipping but US negotiations on hold, says Tehran

Iran has been in discussion with Oman about the creation of a new temporary route through the strait of Hormuz that would allow commercial shipping to resume, but is not yet reviving talks with the US, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday. Esmail Baghaei was responding to claims by Donald Trump that talks between the two sides covering all the major disputes between them could restart as early as Monday. “We are not currently negotiating with the United States,” he said. Trump claimed he had held off from launching the biggest strike on any country “since world war two” over the weekend after Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, rang him to urge diplomacy. Trump said the cancellation was conditional on Iran reaching a deal quickly. It is thought to be the 12th time in the war between the US and Iran that Trump has called off threatened strikes. On Monday, the US president called the Iranian leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” in a post on social media. “They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg’, talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman’. They then go on to give their usual blather in saying, the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them, when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our ‘Blockade’.” Trump demanded “a Deal, or Total Surrender” from Iran. Baghaei’s discussion of a new middle route through the strait of Homuz would represent progress. Iran is claiming full sovereignty over the strait and has been making demands over the routes and future management of the strait, including the possibility of charging fees in return for providing ships with maritime services. One proposal is to create an Omani-Iranian joint company that would provide all the services that insurance companies used to provide at high costs, but at lower prices, and with preferential tariffs for some countries. Unlocking a mutually acceptable route through the strait is the precondition to unlocking all the other agreements laid out in the memorandum of understanding, the ceasefire document both sides signed on 18 June. Disagreements about the memorandum’s obligations has led to a resumption of the war, which has spread to the Red Sea and to Iraq. Last week, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said Iran was demanding that ships entering the strait take a route to the north close to Iran, but that some ships could take a southern route. Iran rejected the traffic being divided evenly between the two routes, and also that a third country could start de-mining the routes. Baghaei told a press conference in Tehran: “We are now talking about a corridor that will have a round trip route, not two or three separate routes. This intermediate route is to be used temporarily until a decision is made on a fixed route”. He framed the route as an alternative to the transport separation scheme, the previous longstanding prewar route overseen by the UN’s International Maritime Office. He said maps had been exchanged by the two sides. Baghaei stressed that the talks with Oman were bilateral and did not involve the US, adding that the negotiations with Oman had lasted seven to eight days. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was not due to hold any talks with the US on Monday, he said. He said: “We are focused on reaching an understanding on a route that will ensure safe shipping traffic through the strait of Hormuz. Our effort is to determine a route at the earliest opportunity, with Oman’s consultation and cooperation; a route that will usually be temporary and based on which we can provide shipping in the strait of Hormuz.” He said an agreement on a route would not solve all the problems, pointing to the continuing US naval blockade of Iran’s ports, and that unless the US approach changed, there would be no significant improvement in the situation in the strait. Baghaei implied the talks with Oman would extend beyond a safe route to include future management of the strait. He said: “As a rule, in any understanding regarding shipping traffic between two coastal states, all issues related to the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the two countries, as well as issues of national security, national interests, and issues related to maritime services, are definitely considered and examined.” Recently there had been gloom in Omani circles about reaching an agreement with Iran on routes, leading to a revival of preparations for Oman’s European allies to start to clear the southern route of mines, a step that might have provoked direct conflict between Iran and European powers. Baghaei blamed the US for disregarding the memorandum of understanding by attempting to open up a southern route through Omani waters, arguing that article 5 of the memorandum specified that Iran alone within 30 days was required to return the level of shipping traffic to prewar conditions. He said ships that passed through this Oman route “were moving under pressure from Centcom [US Central Command], and due to intimidation from the American side. Some of these ships were even carrying military equipment, and in the shelter of these large ships sometimes frigates also travelled. “On 21 and 22 June, the US carried out widespread attacks against Iran and suddenly announced that everything was over under the pretext of the incident of seeing several ships in the strait of Hormuz,” he said. In a sign of the pressure Tehran diplomats face, a statement from the Assembly of Experts, the body of clerics that elects the supreme leader, warned against investing any trust in the US, saying: “Hope for understanding and agreement with this bullying regime will lead nowhere.” A section of the statement read: “It is incumbent upon all the free people in every corner of the world to keep aloft the banner of revenge and retribution for the martyred imam.” But the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said he believed the “memorandum of understanding would prove to be the centre of gravity of our foreign relations in the future”. Saudi intervention came in a week in which Riyadh attacked Iranian-backed forces inside Iraq and raised the temperature in its dispute with the Iranian-backed Houthis in northern Yemen, underlining the extent to which Saudi Arabia fears the consequence of an all-out US war against Iran spiralling out of control across the Middle East.