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Lange kritisiert die zögerliche europäische Militärhilfe und das Fehlen strategischer Luftverteidigung scharf. Um Angriffe nachhaltig zu stoppen, müsse die Ukraine russische Rüstungsfabriken und Lieferketten mit Waffen wie dem Taurus gezielt ausschalten können.

Auch bei Rufen nach Diplomatie warnt er vor Naivität: Erfolgreiche Verhandlungen seien nur durch harten wirtschaftlichen und militärischen Druck möglich. Wirksame Hebel wären etwa ein umfassender Stopp für Schengen-Visa für Russen oder das konsequente Blockieren der Schattenflotte.

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Right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and center-left Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday reiterated their push to combat illegal migration after thousands of unauthorized migrants surged into Spanish exclave Ceuta in late July.

“We are aware that many might be wondering about our cooperation. We come from very different political backgrounds, and we certainly do not agree on everything,” Meloni posted in a “joint message” on Facebook, sharing an archival photo of herself and Frederiksen.

“We do not accept uncontrolled immigration to Europe, and we have promoted a strict immigration policy, both in our Nations and in Europe,” the statement continued.

In response to the Ceuta crisis, which reignited Europe’s long-running debate on illegal migration, Denmark and Italy had sent a joint letter to the European Commission demanding immediate action at the EU’s external borders. The letter was co-signed by 20 other European heads of state and government.

Italy has since been one of the harshest critics of Spain’s left-wing government and its migration policies, with Rome announcing border controls for travelers arriving from Spain on Friday.

Meloni and Frederiksen argued that the adverse effects of illegal migration — “rising crime rates, growing pressure on public services, and an erosion of citizens’ trust” — were indisputable.

“For too long, ordinary people … have paid too high a price because of uncontrolled immigration,” they said.

“We are both proud of Europe’s Christian cultural heritage and want to protect it. We expect those who come to our countries and choose to make Europe their home to respect our values and not seek to impose ways of life on us that we do not share,” they said.

GROSSETO, Italy — The Italo-Spanish clash on border controls is escalating.

Italy on Friday said it has no intention of suspending border checks on travelers from Spain, “a friendly country,” and rebuffed Madrid’s threats to retaliate if Rome maintains the emergency measures it instituted in response to the mass arrival of migrants in the Spanish exclave Ceuta last week.

“Italy does not accept ultimatums or demands from abroad regarding national security and border control,” the Office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Spanish government had threatened to take “proportional measures” if Rome did not stop its reintroduced border checks and temporary suspension of the Schengen Agreement by Aug. 9.

In its statement, Rome said it would keep these controls in place “at least until August 15 and, in any case, until security and terrorism risks to Italy can be completely ruled out,” adding that a new “migratory wave” is expected in Ceuta on that date.

“Only when it is certain that there will be no security or terrorism risks for Italy, that there will be no new wave and that there are no irregular migrants heading toward European territory will it be possible to reconsider what has already been decided,” said the document.

Spain warned Italy on Friday it will take “proportional measures” if Rome does not end border controls on travelers from Spain by Aug. 9, escalating the dispute triggered by last week’s mass arrival of unauthorized migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

Italy reintroduced border controls with Spain on Aug. 1, temporarily suspending the Schengen Agreement allowing passport-free travel across 29 European countries — a measure Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called a “necessary choice to safeguard the security of our citizens and defend European borders.”

“The measure adopted by the Italian government is unjust, contrary to the interests of the EU and discriminatory toward the Spanish population,” the Spanish government wrote in a statement blasting Rome for its “unprecedented” decision.

In addition to slamming Rome for imposing border controls that inconvenienced thousands of passengers by creating legal uncertainty in the middle of the summer holiday season, Madrid also took Italy to task for criticizing Spain’s handling of migrants while failing to protect its own borders.

Even though “Italy is the EU member state that has recorded the highest number of irregular crossings in recent years, with figures that have at times been twice those of Spain … Spain has never introduced controls on travelers from Italy,” the Spanish government said.

Madrid has now given the Italian government two days to either lift the border controls or face reciprocal measures that aim to “protect the interests and dignity” of Spanish citizens.

“Governments should work to promote understanding between countries and serve the general interests of their populations, rather than create divisions and pointless conflicts driven by domestic electoral considerations,” the statement said.

“We trust that Europeanism, common sense and good faith will prevail.”

The United States on Thursday moved to allay fears that it was questioning Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, but criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government for its “refusal” to defend the North African exclaves from a “migrant invasion.”

Tens of thousands of migrants poured into Ceuta last week from Morocco in a surge that heightened Spanish fears about the vulnerability of its North African cities to hybrid attack.

Amid the crisis, Spanish politicians and media raised concerns about the warming relationship between Morocco — which claims Ceuta and Melilla — and the U.S. President Donald Trump, who was infuriated by Socialist Sánchez’s refusal to back the war in Iran.

Many in Madrid expressed fears Washington could decline to rein in Rabat, and pointed to a recent U.S. Congress report that described Ceuta and Melilla as being in “Moroccan territory” and was supportive of negotiations on the “future status” of the cities. But U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott insisted that there has been no change in U.S. policy on the exclaves.

“The United States unequivocally supports Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla,” he told POLITICO.

The State Department noted that the congressional report did not represent U.S. law.

Pigott said that allegations suggesting Washington was questioning Spain’s continued control of the cities had been “pushed by nefarious actors who wish to distract from the Spanish government’s shameful refusal to defend its people from the migrant invasion of its territory in Ceuta.”

He also argued the Spanish government was solely to blame for the crisis in the exclave, into which 72,000 unauthorized migrants surged last week.

“The invasion of tens of thousands of migrants into Ceuta is a direct consequence of the Spanish government’s refusal to defend their sovereignty, secure their borders, and protect their people,” he said.

The crisis in Ceuta initially prompted widespread criticism from EU leaders such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, who last week attacked Spain for having “completely failed to protect the Schengen Area’s external border from infiltration.”

Ceuta is not in the Schengen area, and is separated from mainland Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

While the EU member countries have since reversed course and praised Madrid for its handling of the situation, Pigott on Thursday called on Spain to “take all necessary actions to remove illegal migrants and regain control over its borders.”

“Unrestricted mass migration into Ceuta endangers the Spanish people and threatens the security of Europe,” he said. “The State Department stands with the Spanish people and all Europeans in defense of their sovereignty and welcomes all efforts to repel the invasion, remove illegal migrants from European territory, and secure Europe’s borders.” 

BRUSSELS — The EU’s new biometric border-check system is causing such long delays for summer travelers that some airports are turning to a simple solution: switching it off when they’re overwhelmed by arriving travelers.

The quick fix, which is allowed under EU regulations, wasn’t what was envisioned when the Entry/Exit System was gradually introduced in October and went fully into force on April 10.

And yet, many airports are doing just that.

“When lines form during the busy summer months, the system is shut off to ensure smooth transit at our hubs in Paris and Amsterdam,” Air France-KLM told POLITICO. 

Airline CEOs, border authorities, and airport officials said biometric checks are suspended when border crossings become congested at other hubs, including in Frankfurt, Brussels and Milan.

The EES applies to non-EU citizens entering the 29-country Schengen zone. Instead of heading to a border agent to get passports stamped, passengers have to use an EES kiosk to provide their fingerprints and be photographed — which will be kept on file for three years — but if those aren’t working then the information has to be taken manually.

They then head either to electronic passport gates or to border agents to enter. The goal is to keep track of visa overstays.

“The advantages of the new system for the EU are evident,” said Guillaume Mercier, a Commission spokesperson. “It increases the security of EU citizens and replaces paper stamping with a modern system of registration and checks.”

The Commission said earlier this year that biometric checks allowed authorities to detect identity frauds that would otherwise “likely have gone undetected.”

Many airports, ports, road border crossings and rail terminals have adapted to the new demands, but tourist-heavy locations have seen hours-long waits.

“Connecting flights were missed due to the EU entry system,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said on Tuesday.

Under pressure from the travel industry, the Commission granted a waiver for the peak summer season lasting until Sept. 6. The EES regulation “includes the possibility to temporarily suspend the registration of biometrics in case of exceptional circumstances during the summer,” said Mercier.

“We’ve been able to achieve this with German authorities and with Frankfurt Airport because delays were getting too long,” Spohr told reporters. 

This exception applies to all entry points, not just airports.

A British traveler, Rene Colandog, said on Friday he only had to present his passport before boarding a Eurostar train at London St. Pancras last month. Facial scans and fingerprints were not required. 

“I’m OK with this biometric system … as long as it’s for security,” Colandog said before boarding the train from Brussels back to London. 

Teething troubles

The EES was adopted in 2017, but it was delayed for years because border authorities were not ready to handle the additional workload. 

Even now, getting travelers properly registered in the new system still requires significant staffing. Another problem is that the EES is still new, so almost all travelers are registering for the first time — creating additional delays.

“At Milan Malpensa Airport, border control teams currently consist of about 35 people,” said Cristian Sternativo, a border control officer at the Italian airport and local representative of Italy’s Autonomous Police Union. 

To carry out all the checks required by the EES without creating long lines, “at least 10 to 15 more people would be needed during the busiest times,” he added.  

It is “unthinkable” to expect the EES to operate at full capacity with the current level of staffing because the new system “requires more time,” he said.

Even at Brussels Airport — barely 10 kilometers from the EU institutions — the technology is still not fully operational; biometric data collection suspensions started well before the summer under a derogation issued in late March after 600 passengers missed their flights over just 21 hours.

“The Federal Police Border Control may decide to apply this derogation when necessary,” Belgium’s police confirmed this week.

Now, eight EU countries and Switzerland want the summer derogations extended beyond Sept. 6. 

A strict application of the full procedure “would lead to public order issues” because “there are certain peak periods when the current infrastructure isn’t sufficient to accommodate everyone,” Sternativo said.

Security vs. speed

Despite suspending biometric checks, border authorities insist that security isn’t undermined.

“The traveler is always registered in the EES and the required travel document data are entered into the system,” the Belgian federal police said in a written reply, adding that “the security of border checks and compliance with European regulations remain our absolute priority.”

Passenger experiences vary depending on where they enter the EU.

Kathleen Glass, who regularly travels from the U.K. to the EU, waited only about 15 minutes to complete biometric checks at London St. Pancras on Friday morning before boarding a Eurostar train to Brussels.

William, from Edinburgh, who asked not to have his surname published, said biometric checks at a German airport during Christmas took between 40 and 50 minutes.

The ability to suspend biometric collection appears to be keeping the system functioning this summer.

“Although we are early into the summer season, we are not receiving reports of excessive queues,” said Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs for the Association of British Travel Agents.

The stress over the EES is only a precursor to the next border technology change being planned by Brussels. The bloc’s next goal is the online European Travel Information and Authorization System, which will require travelers from 59 visa-exempt countries to preregister, undergo a security check and pay a small fee before entering Schengen.

ETIAS — similar to systems already in use in the U.K., and the U.S. — was originally supposed to launch in 2021, and then later this year, but is now delayed until 2027.

BRUSSELS — After days of recriminations over the sudden arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta last week, the EU’s 27 home affairs ministers are expected to use an emergency meeting Tuesday to express solidarity with Madrid and focus on how to prevent a repeat.

However, Spain will also criticize some governments for turning the crisis into an attack on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez instead of supporting a fellow EU country facing an emergency, according to an official familiar with Madrid’s plans, granted anonymity to speak freely. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will present Madrid’s assessment of the events and make the case for a common European response, the official said.

After initial criticism of Spain, the mood among EU capitals has softened as the immediate crisis eased, according to eight diplomats from different countries who were granted anonymity to speak freely. Almost all the migrants who entered the exclave last week have returned to Morocco, Spanish authorities say, and there has been no reported onward movement into mainland Europe.

The groundwork for Tuesday’s meeting was set on Monday when EU ambassadors held talks that lasted around two and a half hours. The Spanish envoy gave Madrid’s account of the Ceuta crisis, during which more than 70 people died, and reprimanded some capitals for spreading disinformation, according to one of the diplomats. The ambassador was asked for verification of Madrid’s figures on returned migrants and for the situation to be closely monitored, two other diplomats said.

Concerns were also raised that Spanish government policies may have been used by people-smugglers and gangs to encourage the events in Ceuta.

“There’s a concern that … the legalization of a million irregular migrants, that it’s been possible [for people-smugglers] to use that to give the impression that the door was open,” said one diplomat from a country that has been critical of Spain.

Italy called for the EU to immediately establish migrant deportation hubs in non-EU countries, one of the diplomats said. The plans follow the approval of a law granting EU capitals the power to set up centers in non-EU countries for processing migrants who have been denied the right to stay in the bloc — so-called return hubs.

But the Spanish ambassador criticized Italy for amplifying false claims about the migrant regularization program, such as Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s suggestion on social media that it automatically grants EU citizenship. The program provides legal residency to eligible migrants but does not confer Spanish nationality.

Rallying to support Spain

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set the tone of conciliation on Monday by writing to Sánchez to praise Spain and Morocco for their handling of the crisis and calling for a united European response. She said the episode showed the need for stronger controls at the EU’s external borders, closer cooperation with partner countries, better early-warning systems, action against smuggling networks and more effective returns.

The interior ministers are expected to seek further rapprochement. Tuesday’s discussion will focus on lessons learned from Ceuta, ways to beef up controls at the bloc’s external borders and how to respond to potential future episodes of instrumentalized migration, rather than assigning blame for the crisis, three of the diplomats said.

“Everyone is both very willing and very eager to help, and acknowledged this has been a very difficult situation for Spain,” one of the EU diplomats said after the ambassadors’ gathering. The diplomat said Monday’s meeting had been calmer than the weekend’s public exchanges.

Twenty-two national leaders, in a letter initiated by Italy and Denmark, had on Saturday called for tougher external borders and warned against policies that could act as “pull factors” — an apparent reference to Spain’s plan to grant legal status to more than 1 million undocumented migrants. Madrid saw the letter as an attempt to blame the Spanish government for a crisis not of its making.

Tuesday’s videoconference will be chaired by Ireland’s Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. Officials from EU border agency Frontex, the EU Asylum Agency, Europol, the European External Action Service and Schengen-associated countries will also participate.

The crisis has already pushed migration higher up the EU agenda. The issue was already meant to feature at the October European Council summit, but officials now expect it to play a much more prominent role in the run-up to that meeting, the diplomats said.

The Commission is expected to consider possible new migration measures in September, after examining what caused the sudden influx and whether social media or other actors helped organize or amplify it, three of the diplomats said. Strengthening Frontex is one option, with the Commission indicating to ambassadors Monday that it could propose additional steps to reinforce the agency’s role, according to the diplomats.

Max Griera contributed reporting. This article has been updated.

The crisis in the Spanish territory of Ceuta is adding fuel to Europe’s bitter debate over migration.

Following the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in Ceuta in northern Africa last week, EU leaders ganged up on Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez over his migration policies. Although 48,300 migrants had returned to Morocco by late Friday, the backlash is ongoing. On Tuesday the EU is set to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers to figure out next steps. Hosts Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart discuss the incident.

Next, European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho warns that growing global crises can’t become an excuse for secrecy in the EU’s institutions. She says that more than a third of the complaints she receives are about transparency. 

Plus: French President Emmanuel Macron’s team is looking for Saudi funding for a manga theme park near Paris.

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Twenty-two EU leaders — including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — on Saturday took aim at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s migration policies for undermining the security of the bloc’s borders.

The increasingly isolated Sánchez hit back that his EU partners were responding in a “selfish” and “unlawful” manner to the sudden influx of some 50,000 unauthorized migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

While almost all those migrants have now returned to Morocco — and none crossed into the EU mainland — the 22 leaders raised “serious concern” over the threat to the EU’s frontier, and zeroed in on Sánchez’s move to grant legal status to up to 1.2 million unauthorized migrants as a “pull factor” that fueled the crisis.

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, the 22 leaders made direct reference to the need for EU-level cooperation on policies such as Madrid’s migrant regularization scheme.

“We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration, by coordinating our action, strengthening our external borders and addressing all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularization of [a] very large number of irregular migrants,” the leaders wrote.

Madrid has pushed back against the claim that the country’s regularization scheme triggered the crisis in Ceuta, and has pointed out that none of the people who illegally entered the exclave would be eligible to benefit from the measure.

“This process is based on very specific conditions, such as proof of residency in Spain before January 1, 2026, and having resided in Spain for five consecutive months at the time of application,” said a spokesperson for the Spanish foreign ministry. Moreover, the deadline for filing applications for the scheme, which was launched in April, was in June.

But those explanations have not appeared to sway the EU leaders who signed the letter to Costa, Von der Leyen and Martin.

“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible. That a migrant’s illegal entry can turn into legal stay,” they went on.

In a sign of the increasing threat to the EU’s Schengen open travel area and the explosiveness of migration as a pan-European political issue, the letter’s signatories said they were ready to reinforce or reintroduce “temporary border controls” in the bloc.

In addition to Merz and Meloni, the letter was signed by the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.

They called for a video conference of interior ministers to agree on next steps. Ireland said it would convene a meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on Tuesday.

Rome and Copenhagen took the initiative in drafting the letter.

Sánchez slams ‘selfish’ counterparts

In his own letter to von der Leyen, Costa and Martin, Sánchez slammed his European counterparts who “have chosen to attack Spain and to call for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen Area.”

Italy’s Meloni on Thursday was the first to propose Spain be suspended from the 29-country zone where internal border controls have largely been abolished. Italy on Friday imposed restrictions on free movement from Spain to Italian ports and airports. France has also increased checks on the border with Spain because of the migration surge in Ceuta.

In his letter, seen by POLITICO, Spain’s Socialist prime minister argued that calls to have Spain kicked out of the Schengen zone are “not only contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” but also “Europe’s long-term interests and to the most basic common sense.”

Sánchez defended himself from accusations that Spain was failing to protect the EU’s external borders, and cited data showing that his country had recorded half as many illegal entries as Italy between 2021 and 2026. He also stressed that it was not the first time that migrants had been weaponized against the bloc’s members, and recalled Belarus’ 2021 bid to sow chaos in the EU by facilitating migrant crossings into Poland and several Baltic countries.

Spain’s prime minister added the EU members that had backed the suspension proposal were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.”

“In the current international context, the European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” he wrote.

Sánchez’s strongly worded letter underscores the growing tension between the prime minister and the plethora of EU leaders that have expressed support for Spain’s temporary exclusion from the Schengen area.

Those calling for action include right-wing politicians such as Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, a member of the nationalist Finns Party, as well as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose Social Democrats belong to the center-left Party of European Socialists.

Nicholas Vinocur, Zoya Sheftalovich and Sebastian Starcevic contributed reporting.