Mohamed VI denounces the "irresponsibility" in Spain of the Ceuta crisis and says that he will not allow "pressure, blackmail or threats"

King Mohamed VI of Morocco spoke this Friday for the first time in public about the migratory crisis in Ceuta, although without expressly mentioning the autonomous city, when denouncing the "irresponsible statements of certain political and media circles" in Spain, which he has not cited. Likewise, he has warned that Morocco's relationship with Spain is a "sovereign choice" and, therefore, cannot be subject to any type of "pressure, threats or blackmail."

The Alawite monarch spoke with a speech at the opening of the new parliamentary legislature in which he referred for the first time to the migration crisis unleashed at the end of July in Ceuta, when more than 80,000 people, mostly Moroccans, crossed the border into the autonomous Spanish city. In this sense, Mohamed VI has recognized that the relationship with Spain "has registered important progress in different sectors, including the fight against irregular immigration."

However, the Moroccan king has warned that currently cooperation in this last area faces "important challenges, linked to certain outdated legal provisions and judicial decisions that are far from reality."

Among them, the delay in the repatriation of minors, he criticized: "This behavior makes the repatriation of minors and people who usurp refugee status difficult, and sharpens the appetite of criminal networks."