EU Migration Commissioner on Ceuta, Spain Migrant Crisis: Europe ‘Has Definitely Passed This Test’

EXCERPT:

BRUNNER: “And as I said before, these past few days were a test of our European resilience, a test of the security of our external borders, and they showed — these days showed clearly that there are actors with no regard for the safety or even for lives of innocent people. And from the first moment, of course, what we did as a Commission, we offered support to Spain, both financially and operationally, and this includes emergency financial assistance to strengthen the protection of the external border in Ceuta, also supporting returns, of course, and also to prevent movements to the European Union. In terms of support from our agencies, Frontex is already on the ground with more than 30 people in Ceuta, and, of course — is, of course, ready to do more also, and also other EU agencies like Europol, like our asylum agency, stand ready to assist Spain. For the time being, Europe, I think, has definitely passed this test. People did not manage to enter the Shengen area and the security at the border was resolved quickly. The key now is for the European Union to act, I would say, in a united manner and also draw the right conclusions from these events. This is also what we discussed today."