EU member state justice ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss the sudden influx of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta in recent days.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed the decision to hold the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in a statement this afternoon, saying it will be chaired by Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and that officials will "continue to monitor the situation".
The meeting, which is likely to be held virtually, will follow a meeting of EU ambassadors on Monday and was agreed after a meeting of EU member state officials today.
The now planned meeting on Tuesday came after 22 of the EU's 27 member states called for the meeting in correspondence to European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Taoiseach Micheál Martin due to Ireland's EU Presidency role.
Those seeking the move, which was initiated by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, are the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
Today's meeting is understood to have lasted for an hour and saw all member states express solidarity with Spain over what happened in Ceuta in recent days.
While the meeting was largely about sharing information, it is understood a number of matters were discussed, including ongoing questions over what exactly caused the sudden influx of migrants to Ceuta, if it was linked to recent friction between Spain and Morocco, and what actions are needed to prevent a repeat occurrence.
During the meeting European Commission officials also raised what was described as disinformation from Russian online sources over events in Ceuta.
Those at today's meeting confirmed that calls in the past 24 hours by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for Spain to be temporarily suspended from the free travel Schengen area were raised, both by Italy and Denmark.
However, it is understood this was in a far more tempered way than public letters from Italy on the matter and that almost all other countries did not raise any points on the issue.
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