Pedro Sánchez, the leftist Prime Minister of Spain, has leveled accusations against social media platforms, claiming they have connections to Russia and Israel and have propagated misinformation that incited a mass influx of migrants to the North African enclave of Ceuta at the end of July. In an interview with the Spanish broadcaster Ser, Sánchez stated that the European External Action Service (EEAS) had informed the Spanish government about these developments. He elaborated that if both countries were involved in this matter, it was not out of concern for the migrants but rather in response to Spain's denunciation of Israel's alleged genocide in Gaza and Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine.
The Prime Minister further criticized what he termed an "international far-right movement" that exploits the issue of migration to not only attack Spain but also to create divisions within Europe. It remains unclear whether he was referencing Elon Musk, who on July 31 shared a clip from the apocalyptic thriller "World War Z" on his platform X, featuring a scene where a horde of infected individuals breaches a protective wall in Jerusalem. Additionally, Sánchez asserted that Musk's actions could potentially ruin Spain by attracting billions of impoverished individuals.
According to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, approximately 72,000 migrants swam from Morocco to Ceuta or climbed over border fences on July 30 and 31. While most returned within hours, around 5,000 migrants remained in the area as of Friday, a space smaller than Frankfurt Airport, with 1,200 minors among them, Sánchez noted. Local residents have increasingly demonstrated violently against the prolonged presence of such a large number of migrants, putting significant pressure on Sánchez's government.
Sánchez’s allegations against Russian actors are consistent with long-standing warnings that Moscow has been conducting a hybrid war against the West for years, aimed at destabilizing democratic societies. Hybrid warfare involves a blend of military, economic, intelligence, and propaganda strategies, including the manipulation of public opinion through misinformation and state-directed cyberattacks. Russia had previously dismissed accusations made by various EU politicians that pro-Russian forces had escalated the situation in Ceuta as unfounded speculation.
Another facet of hybrid warfare is the strategic use of migration. Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania have accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of systematically orchestrating the movement of migrants from crisis regions to the EU's external border since 2021, as a means of exerting pressure on the West.
Relations between Spain and Israel have significantly deteriorated in recent years, with Spain emerging as one of the most vocal European critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Sánchez has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and criticized the current Israeli-American strikes on Iran as violations of international law. In response, Spain has imposed sanctions on Israel and recognized Palestine as a state, leading to both countries recalling their ambassadors amid growing diplomatic tensions. Besides the Gaza conflict, Spain also condemns Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, yet an official response from the Jerusalem government has yet to be disclosed.
In the Ser interview, Sánchez emphasized that the Spanish government can only act based on data and verified facts. He pointed out that misinformation and disinformation, including narratives propagated by criminal organizations involved in human trafficking, have distorted a Supreme Court ruling from July 8. This ruling was misrepresented on social media, falsely claiming that individuals arriving in Ceuta by swimming could not be deported. Sánchez clarified that this assertion is incorrect, adding that Morocco "immediately" and comprehensively cooperated with Spanish authorities during the crisis.
However, Morocco lays claim to the two enclaves and had previously allowed thousands of migrants to reach Ceuta in 2021 without intervention.
As reported by traunsteiner-tagblatt.de.
