Ceuta – ESI responds to the border crisis in Ceuta

1 August 2026
Gerald on the Ceuta border crisis. Source: BR
Gerald on the Ceuta border crisis. Source: BR

ESI’s Gerald Knaus addressed a regional meeting of the CDU in Baden-Baden, Germany, speaking on the future of the European project.

ESI was at the forefront of helping to inform the public about the 30 July mass border breach in the Spanish exclave Ceuta in Northern Africa. Amidst widespread disinformation about the status of Ceuta and irregular migration to Europe – including by official government sources and major far-right political leaders – ESI provided clear, fact-based analysis and context to viewers from Austria to Australia.

Amidst the great need for ESI’s fact-driven analysis, the entire ESI team helped in the effort. ESI’s Gerald Knaus was among the most sought-after analysts worldwide in explaining to audiences the developments in Ceuta; ESI’s Kristof Bender also gave major interviews on the topic. Supporting them, the ESI team did both wide-ranging background research on both the border crossings and international reactions to the event as well as coordinated the dozens of interview requests ESI was receiving every day.

In the interviews, ESI covered numerous topics and issues. We fought the false claim that Ceuta was within the Schengen area and that migrants would be able to travel onward to other Schengen states from Ceuta. We pointed out that Ceuta, an exclave surrounded by Morocco, is explicitly excluded from the Schengen area. We also noted that Spain has been a reliable ally in the effort to control irregular migration to Europe. Indeed, despite the patently legally impossible requests of Italy and other nations to exclude Spain from Schengen area, Italy has received and processes more irregular migrants than Spain. In this way, ESI helped to show how the event was being used by the European and American far-right to create a new migration panic. Instead, ESI encouraged a realistic and fact-based response to the event – stressing the possibility and importance of real migration partnerships in creating a durable, legal, and sustainable migration management system in Europe.

Interview with Gerald Knaus. Video: The Rest Is Politics