Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has lamented the lack of European solidarity regarding the border chaos that took place last week in Ceuta. The Italian government is trying to gain political mileage from the situation by presenting the Spanish government as reckless while pretending to be the adult in the room.
The Italian government has no legitimacy on this issue to present itself as the responsible adult in the room after being directly responsible for the very “hybrid threats” it is now calling on Europe to address. Many European leaders are falling for Italy’s populist tricks and playing along in its charade.
Surprisingly, Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela also signed Premier Meloni’s letter which seems to be at face value a public act of betrayal for short-term political opportunism by Malta’s Prime Minister. Robert Abela and Pedro Sánchez are friends, but more importantly, they are the only leaders of Socialist International member parties who are currently in government. With the Spanish premier asking for solidarity, the least he could have expected from his supposed ally and friend was for him not to sign Meloni’s letter or play along with her antics.
In fact, France and Luxembourg did not sign the letter. France’s Emmanuel Macron and Luxembourg’s Luc Frieden, seem to be refusing to allow themselves to be used by the Italian Prime Minister to attack another EU member state.
The Italian Prime Minister is calling for an extraordinary meeting of the European Council to be convened, but nothing new will be discussed. Spain has addressed the situation in Ceuta, and no one is proposing any changes to the EU’s common migration policy. This is a meeting that could have been an email—or, rather, a political rally.
The letter has been published here.
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