Leading Spanish and Italian social democrats have written to the Party of European Socialists to criticize Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. They call her alignment with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni over the Ceuta migration crisis unacceptable.
DR reports that prominent European social democrats have criticized Frederiksen in a joint letter. The criticism follows Italy’s decision to suspend Schengen cooperation with Spain during the crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Behind the letter are Javi López, a Spanish vice-president of the European Parliament, and Peppe Provenzano, foreign policy spokesperson for Italy’s Democratic Party. The letter was first reported by the Italian news agency ANSA on August 17.
The two politicians write that Frederiksen is adopting the radical right’s narrative of migration as a permanent crisis. According to ANSA, they point to irregular arrivals in Europe having fallen by around 40 percent since the start of 2026.
They also argue that Denmark did not show sufficient solidarity with Spain during the pressure in Ceuta. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez belongs to the same social democratic political family as Frederiksen.
Per ANSA, the letter is addressed to PES president Stefan Löfven. López and Provenzano ask for Frederiksen’s handling of the Ceuta situation to be placed on the agenda of the next PES meeting. ANSA adds that they describe Italy’s Schengen suspension as purely propagandistic, since travel from Ceuta into the EU is already restricted.
The joint letter and statement that preceded the criticism
In early August, Frederiksen and Meloni demanded immediate action to contain migration to Ceuta. Their joint letter was signed by 20 other member states, bringing the total to 22 EU governments. As reported by Le Monde on August 4, the signatories criticized Sánchez’s April regularization plan for irregular migrants as a pull factor.
On August 10, the two leaders published a joint social media statement. Euractiv reported that they called for protecting Europe’s Christian cultural heritage and demanded that migrants respect European values. Euronews noted their opposition to uncontrolled immigration and their support for return centers outside the EU, part of a wider push for tougher deportation rules.
Danish MEP Christel Schaldemose rejects the criticism. She told DR that the letter from the 22 countries contains many requests for European coordination. The claim that Denmark does not want to help Spain is simply not correct, she said.
Schaldemose describes the criticism as an attack on Danish political culture, where parties cooperate across the center. According to her, some colleagues in the parliamentary group are less comfortable with that approach.
She expects the matter to be discussed in the S&D group when it meets after the summer break. Schaldemose does not believe the criticism will go far, noting that the group has long disagreed with the Danish Social Democrats on migration. DR states that it is working to obtain comments from López and Provenzano.
