'Ceuta crisis' becomes political fuel for European right's battle against migration

The influx of thousands of migrants towards the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has shifted from a border incident into political captail exploited by nationalist right-wing parties across Europe, forcing migration into the forefront of public debate. 

While Madrid attempted to contain the crisis on the ground, right-wing groups presented what happened as evidence of the failure of European migration policies and sought to link it to security and cultural concerns among voters.

The xenophobic rhetoric was not confined to Europe, and has a transatlantic dimension, promoted by prominent figures in the US conservative camp and media outlets close to the right, particularly with the return of Donald Trump's administration to adopting a tougher stance on borders and migration.

Sweden: the ghost of 2015

In Sweden, the Ceuta crisis occurs about a month before the general election, therefore bringing migration back to the centre of electoral competition.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson exploited the images from the Spanish border to attack his Social Democratic opponents, warning against repeating what he described as the "mistake of 2015", when Sweden received more than 160,000 refugees within a short period.

The right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party was the quickest to capitalise on the crisis. 

Its leader, Jimmie Åkesson, said the Ceuta events prove the "need to tighten border controls and reduce the number of migrants", attempting to strengthen his party's narrative as it has transformed in recent years from a marginal force into a key player in Swedish politics.

Several traditional parties have even adopted stricter policies under pressure from its rise.

In this regard, critics of the Swedish right argue that these forces exploit border crises to fuel fears and turn exceptional events into general evidence of migration failure, while ignoring other factors such as the Swedish economy's need for foreign labour and demographic challenges.

Denmark: tougher policies

The exploitation of the Ceuta crisis also extended to Denmark, where the incident has been central to who could offer the strictest migration policy. 

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, together with her Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, called for strengthening the protection of the European Union's external borders and studying additional options if the current system is unable to deal with the pressures.

The right-wing nationalist Danish People's Party went further, with its leader Morten Messerschmidt saying the crisis confirmed the warnings of the right regarding what he called the "failure of European migration policy", and demanding tougher measures against countries that do not guarantee protection of the bloc's external borders.

After years of the Danish People's Party dominating migration rhetoric, major centre-right and some centre-left parties have adopted tougher policies, with disagreements now often focusing on the degree of strictness rather than the principle of adopting tougher measures.

Germany: anti-migration to boost popularity

On the other side, the Alternative for Germany party used images coming from Ceuta to reinforce its traditional anti-migration rhetoric, considering the crisis further evidence of weak protection of the European Union's external borders. 

The party linked migration to security, identity and pressure on public services, attempting to present itself as the force confronting what it calls "loss of control" over borders.

The party has benefited in recent years from successive crises, beginning with the 2015 asylum wave and extending to debates over integration and crime.

It also exploited the recent Berlin attack on a gay pride march to incite against migrants. 

Its political opponents warned against using exceptional events to fuel polarisation, stressing that migration management requires European cooperation combining border protection, faster asylum procedures and combating smuggling networks.

Sanchez and Spain: the western right's opponent

The Ceuta crisis did not occur separately from the political conflict surrounding Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has become one of the European right's most prominent opponents. 

Right-wing criticism directed at him is not limited to migration policy but also includes his positions on the war in Gaza, his criticism of Trump, his rejection of increasing defence spending in line with US demands, and his economic relations with China.

In this context, right-wing leaders quickly blamed Sanchez's government for the crisis. French National Rally President Jordan Bardella said his government had "opened Europe's doors", while the leader of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, said what happened was a direct result of Spanish migration policy. 

Meanwhile, Spain's Vox party exploited the crisis to strengthen its campaign against the Socialist government.

Washington backs the right's narrative

The right's narrative and rhetoric against migration have not remained confined to Europe, as figures from the US conservative camp have used them to strengthen their positions on migration. 

Officials and Trump supporters linked the Ceuta crisis to what they describe as the failure of "mass migration policies", presenting the Trump administration's border policies as an alternative model.

In this regard, researchers, including Danish researcher and writer John Grausgaard, told The New Arab that what brings these forces together is more a similarity in their narrative than an organisational alliance. 

Meanwhile, Danish rights activist Helia Ratz told TNA that border crises are presented by the populist camp as a direct result of "open borders" policies, while tighter restrictions on migration and asylum are presented as the only solution to protect the nation-state.

Madrid rejects portraying Spain as the main weak point in Europe's borders, relying on Frontex data showing that the main irregular migration routes also pass through Italy and Greece. 

Danish researchers believe that the importance of the Ceuta crisis did not come only from its scale, but also from its symbolic power. 

The dramatic images of mass arrivals have become more influential than the figures themselves because they aligned with an existing political narrative among the right.

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.