Latvian Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava (National Alliance) criticised Spain for weakening its migration policy and questioned whether the country should receive European Union (EU) solidarity assistance in the event of a migration crisis, according to the text of a letter addressed to Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Representatives of the Latvian Ministry of the Interior provided the letter to the LETA news agency, stating that, following a decision by the Interior Minister, the letter sent to his Spanish counterpart on the 3rd of August had been authorised for publication.
At the same time, ministry representatives stressed that the letter should be regarded as working-level correspondence between officials rather than as public communications material, and asked that this context be taken into account.
In the letter, Dombrava criticised Spain’s migration policy following the mass arrival of migrants in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta. He argued that Spain’s decisions had weakened the protection of its external border and created risks for the entire Schengen Area.
“Spain’s decision to regularise more than half a million people residing in the country without documentation has created a pull factor that people-smuggling networks exploited within days,” Dombrava argued. According to him, an additional incentive for people to travel to Spain was created by what he described as a “distorted and false” interpretation of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling of the 8th of July.
The Latvian Interior Minister also argued that
Spain could not unilaterally weaken the protection of its external border
while expecting other EU member states to accept the consequences of such policies without objection.
Dombrava also addressed the solidarity mechanism established under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. He questioned whether Spain should receive financial assistance, personnel support or relocation assistance from other member states if it is designated as a country experiencing migratory pressure.
Dombrava wrote that Latvia and other countries located on the EU’s external border would find it difficult to accept the use of the solidarity mechanism in a situation where, in his assessment, Spain’s own political and legal decisions had substantially contributed to the emergence of the crisis.
“Solidarity was established as the counterpart to strong national responsibility, not as an insurance policy against the consequences of a country’s own political decisions,” Dombrava stressed.
Dombrava also argued that the events in Ceuta had not resulted in a coordinated European response,
citing Italy’s actions and France’s tightened border controls as examples.
The Latvian minister also called for an assessment of whether Moroccan authorities had facilitated or allowed the coordinated mobilisation of migrants towards Ceuta. In Dombrava’s view, if a third country uses migrants as an instrument of pressure against an EU member state, such actions should be regarded as a hybrid attack against the European Union as a whole.
The letter compared such potential actions with Belarus’ instrumentalisation of migration at the borders of Latvia and other EU member states. Dombrava argued that the EU should not apply different standards to similar situations on its eastern and southern borders.
At the same time, the Latvian minister offered Spain Latvia’s experience in protecting its external border. According to the letter, Latvia would be prepared to provide assistance in the form of personnel, procedures and technical expertise, including support in Ceuta and Melilla.
Dombrava stressed that
the events in Ceuta were no longer merely a bilateral issue between Spain and Morocco,
but concerned the entire Schengen Area and the credibility of the EU’s external border protection system.
As previously reported, unofficial information obtained by Latvian Television (LTV) from what it described as reliable sources indicated that Spanish officials had expressed disappointment over the Latvian Interior Minister’s letter. Its tone was reportedly perceived as patronising, with Spain privately pointing out that while Spanish troops were helping to defend Latvia, Latvia had chosen to criticise Spain at a time when the country itself was facing severe migration pressure.
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List) subsequently told Dombrava that future communications of this nature with foreign countries should be coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, LTV reported.
Meanwhile, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs told journalists last week that the controversy surrounding the Interior Minister’s letter to Spain should now be considered closed.
Rinkēvičs recalled that, unless specifically authorised otherwise,
Latvia is represented in foreign policy by three officials: the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He acknowledged that some issues require a rapid response but described the existing coordination mechanism between the President’s Office, the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers as effective.
The President said the Prime Minister had spoken with the Interior Minister and expressed confidence that Latvia would pursue a more coordinated approach in the future. He also noted that Dombrava’s letter could be viewed both as a foreign policy communication and as a matter of sectoral policy, given that EU home affairs issues are coordinated among member states.
“I want to reaffirm that Latvia stands in solidarity with Spain. Politically, we are prepared to assist in every possible way. We are grateful to Spain for the participation of its troops in NATO’s Multinational Brigade in Latvia,” Rinkēvičs said.
Several weeks ago, large numbers of irregular migrants arrived in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that 72,000 irregular migrants had entered the city, which has a population of around 85,000. At least 72 migrants died while attempting to reach Ceuta.
Most have since left Ceuta and returned to Morocco, but the incident has caused tensions between Madrid and several other European partners.
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