There is only one good reason to form an all-against-one-party coalition, which is if that party is a danger to democracy. And if the party is a danger to democracy, then the time gained by forming the coalition should be used to start the procedure for banning it.

Marcel Dirsus@marceldirsus.com · yesterday

If the other parties choose to blob together (which they will), they will paralyse each other for a few years and then we'll likely be back where we are now, just that the AfD will probably be even stronger. These coalitions are too broad to deliver what voters want, they're doomed to fail

When an EU member is in trouble, esp if instigated from outside, as for Spain in Ceuta, solidarity should be the only EU response. Far-right reactions is yet more proof there’s no “moderate” far-right, only different ways far right forces seek to dismantle European integration

Winter is coming.

"Kult der Härte" ist ein gutes Stichwort - und übrigens auch eine relevante Parallele zu den 1920er und 1930er Jahren, wo dem Faschismus ebenfalls ein nicht nur von rechts gepflegter Diskurs der notwendigen Härte voranging.

Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik@blaetter.bsky.social · yesterday

Ultrarechte Parteien werden nicht nur stärker, viele radikalisieren sich auch nach und nach – oder sogar rasend schnell. Und eine entscheidende Rolle spielt dabei ein Kult der Härte, der die schräge Allianz aus Neuem Faschismus und Ultraliberalen fest zusammenhält: www.blaetter.de/ausgabe/2026...

Die GFF hat auf 1.500 Seiten begründet, warum die AfD verfassungsfeindlich sei. Elisa Hoven & Marco Vöhringer und Frauke Rostalski haben das Gutachten in der FAZ scharf kritisiert. BERNHARD STÜER mit einer Kritik der Kritik. verfassungsblog.de/zuruck-zur-s...

As Finnish public broadcaster YLE now reports, "Spain is clearing up ambiguities regarding Ceuta – border crossing does not guarantee entry into Europe." But what ambiguities? The Ceuta/Melilla exception is right in Art.41 Schengen Code! Couldn't anyone have read that before starting all this fuzz?

Espanjan hallitus oikoo Ceutan tilanteeseen liittyviä epäselvyyksiä – rajanylitys ei takaa pääsyä Eurooppaan

Ceutan ja Melillan itsehallintoalueet kuuluvat Espanjan ohella Schengen-alueeseen. Kaupunkeja koskevat kuitenkin omat säännöt.

yle.fi

I'm late to this, but an absolute banger from @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com here (full piece: www.liberalcurrents.com/editors-note...)

🇮🇹 now pushes for more agreements with African countries to keep migrants out of Europe. You know with which country the EU has had a border cooperation agreement for >12 years? Morocco. By further externalising border/asylum policy, 🇪🇺 will increase its dependency on dubious "partner" countries.

Professor Daniele Albertazzi@dralbertazziuk.bsky.social · 3d ago

It. govt has reacted to recent events in Ceuta by: 1. Adopting border controls with Spain (i.e. at major airports - a purely symbolic measure meant to weaken PM Sanchez); 2. Pushing for new agreements with Afr. countries for asylum/ migration applications to be processed there - with EU blessing.

Swedish migration minister Forssell (M/EPP) now says he believes that #Ceuta was a hybrid attack by external actors, but still blames the Spanish government for what happened. This is getting ridiculous.

Paul T. Levin@paultlevin.bsky.social · 3d ago

Tvärtom belyser detta perspektiv problemet med de instinktiva populistiska reaktionerna från många europeiska politiker. Dessa spelar rakt i händerna på Marocko och de eventuella andra externa aktörer som legat bakom krisen i Ceuta. (Efter att jag skrev detta såg jag att Forssell svarar på det.)

Nyt kun tilanne Espanjassa on rauhoittumassa, aikooko media kysyä hallitukselta, menikö sen oma viestintä ihan putkeen? Oli kyllä melkoinen pohjanoteeraus, kun sisäministeri halusi rangaista Espanjaa siitä, että se joutui hybridihyökkäyksen uhriksi.

It was a complete farce. Nobody on the European side took control of the messaging, so every rightwing troll/government official seized the opportunity to hurl abuse at a fellow member state government that was facing a crisis. A terrible day for European foreign policy and for the Union as a whole.

Ulrike Franke@rikefranke.bsky.social · 4d ago

“Zusammenfassung: Die Europäer haben auf eine Bedrohung von außen nicht gemeinsam reagiert, sondern sind übereinander hergefallen. Der gestrige Tag war ein schwarzer Tag für Europa und ein Fest für seine Feinde.” www.zeit.de/politik/2026...

🎯 This is a crucial common weakness of both US-style two-party majoritarianism and EU-style vetocracy – with multi-party parliamentarism as the healthy middle ground. (Of course, once the number of authoritarians becomes too large, it's difficult to silo them in any system.)

Stan Oklobdzija@stano.bsky.social · 4d ago

In any society, there will be a large number of people who are dispositionally conservative, which is fine and even good. There will also be a small, but significant number who are outright authoritarians. A good electoral system will silo the latter and allow the former to govern without them.

An interesting little thought experiment on why there is absolutely no point in member states playing off Northern European threat scenarios against Southern European ones. Solidarity must always work both ways.

Mark Chadbourn@chadbourn.bsky.social · 4d ago

“Let us engage in a thought experiment: what if the US suddenly annexed Greenland and Morocco annexed Ceuta and Melilla simultaneously, mirroring Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea? What would the EU do? 7/

Hei YLE, Nyt kun lähes kaikki ovat palanneet takaisin Marokkoon, olisiko ehkä aika muuttaa tätä otsikkoa?

'It was the chance of our lives': After short exile in Ceuta, tens of thousands of young people return to Morocco

'It was the chance of our lives': After short exile in Ceuta, tens of thousands of young people return to Morocco

Spurred by messages on social media, around 50,000 people illegally crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta since Thursday, July 30, in an unprecedented influx. But most have already been forced to make the journey back.

lemonde.fr

The bad news is that Italy has illegally reimposed border controls on Spain, without the Commission publicly objecting to it.

Ursula von der Leyen@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 4d ago

I held a conference call with Commissioners @magnusbrunner.bsky.social and Dubravka Šuica for an update on the situation in Ceuta. The good news is that the vast majority of those who arrived illegally have returned to Morocco, due to the effective work of Spanish and Moroccan law enforcement.

Exzellenter Kommentar meines Kollegen @schieritz.bsky.social zum europäischen Versagen bei der Reaktion auf die Krise in Ceuta www.zeit.de/politik/2026...

Ceuta: Ein Fest für die Feinde Europas

Die Reaktionen auf den Ausnahmezustand in Ceuta? Teils faktenfreies Spanien-Bashing. Man muss festhalten: Friedrich Merz fiel hier beinahe positiv auf.

zeit.de

🇺🇦 FM warns of a 🇷🇺 campaign using #Ceuta pictures to sow destabilisation. Are 🇮🇹🇫🇮🇩🇰 governments talking of suspending Schengen—not mentioning that (a) 🇪🇸 quickly got the Ceuta situation under control & (b) there are border controls between Ceuta and EU mainland anyway—aware whose game they are playing?

Update: Spain's security forces estimate that about 69,500 people have left Ceuta and returned to Morocco in the last 30 hours. No new arrivals were detected overnight. The death toll has risen to 60.

Pedro Sánchez hits back at those calling for Spain's expulsion from the Schengen Area: "Solidarity and empathy are optional. The respect for EU treaties is not."

#landmines

The Brussels Times@brusselstimes.com · 4d ago

Standing 2.2 metres tall in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap, the newly unveiled statue of Magawa is perhaps the most unusual war memorial in the world.

Reality check #Ceuta and #Melilla and #Schengen area: nope. Everything else is willful manipulation by your respective politicians.

The tweet saying "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those 57 who have died trying to reach Ceuta" was part of this thread but got lost?

Ursula von der Leyen@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 5d ago

The images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable. We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules. Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.

By now, it seems that #Spain has been very able to manage the crisis, and no other member states were negatively affected in any way. The reactions from Italy & Co. have been truly shameful. This is how you destroy trust and solidarity in the EU.

Lorenzo Piccoli@lorenzopiccoli.bsky.social · 5d ago

If the concern is Spain’s capacity to manage an exceptional number of arrivals, there are other ways to respond, including supporting Spain, without restricting free movement across an internal Schengen border.

The European response to the #Ceuta crisis will go down in history as an own goal that emboldened Europe’s adversaries. Instead of showing solidarity, Italy & co sought to punish it. Now, with the vast majority of arrivals already returned, the failure wasn’t border control but European solidarity.

Should immigrants be given the right to vote in elections? New research shows that when voting rights were given to immigrants in Spain, it had little impact on party vote or seat shares. ✍ @simonhix.bsky.social & @tarekjaziri.bsky.social blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

Why not give immigrants the right to vote? - LSE European Politics

Granting voting rights to immigrants in Spain has had little impact on party vote or seat shares, removing one of the main objections to the policy.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

The real issue on Ceuta is the lack of solidarity with a Member State under external attack for reasons of internal politics and political exploitation. Italy, Denmark, Finland, but also the von der Leyen Commission. Meanwhile, more than half have already returned to Morocco.

The Commission President expresses NO solidarity with Spain or the thousands of people affected in Ceuta. Nor does she call on other EU Member States to support Spain in managing what is a European border. No rebuke to Italy and Finland threatening to ‘suspend’ Spain from Schengen. That’s illegal

I would want to see more evidence before pointing a finger to Morocco. But obviously, the calls from Italy, Finland and others to somehow "suspend" Spain's Schengen membership have no legal basis and show an appalling (and likely party-politically driven) lack of European solidarity.

Dave Keating@davekeating.substack.com · 5d ago

There's growing evidence the surge into Ceuta (🇪🇸PM Sanchez has called it an "attack") has, like in 2021, been orchestrated by the Moroccan government in retaliation for Sanchez visiting Algeria Yet it's Spain being criticised by European politicians, not Morocco. So much for solidarity.

"Im #Jugendstrafrecht wird mehr Rücksicht auf die kriminologische Erkenntnis genommen, dass [...] freiheitsentziehende Sanktionen vor allem bei jungen Menschen [oft] das Gegenteil des Erwünschten bewirken. Strafvollzug trägt zu Hass gegen Staat und Gesellschaft eher bei, als ihn zu verhindern."

RAV@rav-ev.bsky.social · last wk.

Mehr Haft, weniger Jugendstrafrecht und verfassungswidrige Ausbürgerungen verhindern keine Radikalisierung und keine Straftaten. Statt dessen gäbe es empirisch erwiesen wirksame Präventionsprojekte - genau diesen streicht die Regierung indes gerade die Mittel. www.lto.de/recht/nachri...