Rabat \u2013 Former EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton urged the European Union to investigate what he described as a \u201chybrid attack\u201d behind the mass crossings into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July.<\/p>\n
For NATO, a hybrid attack is a combination of military and non-military actions to \u201cdestabilize a country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breton made <\/a>his remarks in an interview with Le Soir, describing the mass crossing as an \u201coperation,\u201d pointing to the role of social media and possible \u201cstate or non-state actors\u201d behind the incident, without specifically naming a particular party.<\/p>\n He did not directly accuse Morocco of orchestrating the incident or identify any specific country as being behind it. However, his claims echo statements made by far-right political actors in Spain, who have sought to challenge Morocco\u2019s migration policy and cooperation.<\/p>\n Far-right politicians, including those from Vox<\/a>, have used the Ceuta mass crossing<\/a> incident to challenge Morocco\u2019s World Cup hosting rights, while also accusing Rabat of exploiting migration as a means of putting pressure on Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his interview with Le Soir, the former commissioner said that the crossing of 72,000 does not come \u201cout of nowhere,\u201d describing it as a hybrid attack or a \u201ccoordinated action combining military, informational, cyber and migration tools below the threshold of open conflict to weaken an adversary without giving it a cause.\u201d<\/p>\n He drew a comparison with what he described as a \u201cpattern\u201d observed in 2021, accusing the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of organizing the transfer of 17,500 people who attempted to cross the Polish border in October alone.<\/p>\n He also recalled Russia\u2019s move to transfer around 1,000 migrants toward the Finnish border over three months.<\/p>\n Breton also alleged Morocco did not help prevent the mass migration from happening.<\/p>\n For him, Morocco did not do \u201cwhat it usually does, that is, to stop people seeking to leave five, 10 or 20 kilometers from the border.\u201d<\/p>\n He then proposed two possible interpretations, including \u201calgorithmic pressure\u201d that encouraged people to move toward the enclave or a \u201cpossible state signal,\u201d speculating that a state could have deliberately allowed or facilitated the situation to send a message to Madrid or Brussels.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I am saying publicly, however, without beating around the bush, is that the only hypothesis I believe can be ruled out is that of chance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty thousand people in a Facebook group, 11 million impressions, a calibrated slogan, timing chosen at the beginning of a European tourism and political peak \u2014 that is not improvised in a garage,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n A shared responsibility<\/b><\/p>\n While he did not attribute the situation to Morocco, Breton questioned the North African country\u2019s efforts, despite Spain\u2019s acknowledgment and praise of Rabat\u2019s cooperation and its reaffirmation of Morocco\u2019s commitment to facilitating the return of migrants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Breton\u2019s remarks come despite Morocco\u2019s stated commitment<\/a> to addressing irregular migration from the outset of the Ceuta crossings, particularly through its emergency response and agreement with Spain to facilitate the return of all migrants who entered the enclave irregularly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morocco and Spain announced the agreement on the same day as the crossings, with Rabat reiterating its commitment to tackling irregular migration and emphasizing the importance of its contribution to addressing the migration crisis without preconditions.<\/p>\n Morocco, however, has rejected criticism of its role, arguing that it should not bear the consequences of a Spanish judge\u2019s decision to prevent<\/a> the immediate or \u201chot\u201d return of migrants. Rabat has also emphasized that it is not a \u201cconcierge\u201d or police force for the European Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n