Israel and Russia denied the accusations made earlier today by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that social media accounts associated with the two countries spread rumors and disinformation that led to the mass influx of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa at the end of July, Reuters and DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Sanchez also accused the international far-right, stressing that it always uses the topic of migration not only to attack Spain, but also to attack Europe and cause division in it.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) - the diplomatic wing of the European Union, has informed the Spanish government of this, Sanchez said in an interview with Cadena SER radio, published earlier today.
Sanchez was referring to a distorted presentation on social media of a decision by the Spanish Supreme Court on July 8, notes Agence France-Presse. According to the disinformation spread at the time, anyone who swam to Ceuta could no longer be expelled back to Morocco.
The Spanish prime minister stressed that if there was such intervention by either or both countries, it was not out of concern for the migrants, but because Spain had condemned, in his words, the genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip and Russia's war against Ukraine, notes DPA.
Israel described the accusation as a "blatant lie". Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sanchez of "shamelessly lying" in a post on the social platform Ex, which was written in Hebrew, Spanish and English.
"Continuing to spread slanderous lies will not distract from Sanchez's shameful failure in the management of state affairs," Saar wrote.
Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated significantly in recent years. Spain has become one of the harshest critics of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, DPA notes.
Sanchez has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and criticized US and Israeli strikes on Iran as a violation of international law. Spain has also imposed sanctions on Israel and recognized Palestine as a state.
For its part, Russia also denied Sanchez's statements. The Kremlin has rejected the Spanish government's claims that Russia is involved in the migration crisis in Ceuta, Reuters notes, citing Russian media outlet RBC.
The accusations made by Sanchez against Russian actors fit into a broader trend of warnings that Moscow has been waging a hybrid war against the West for years with the aim of destabilizing democratic societies, DPA notes.
Russia has already rejected accusations made by other EU politicians that pro-Russian forces have incited the situation in Ceuta as part of an alleged hybrid war, calling them unfounded fantasies.
The use of migration is also a tool of hybrid warfare, DPA recalls, noting that Poland, Latvia and Lithuania recently accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately bringing migrants to the EU's external border since 2021 in order to "put pressure on the West".