EU ministers condemn foreign 'information interference' in Ceuta crisis

European interior ministers have expressed concern over cases of foreign "information interference" linked to the circulation of images during the migration crisis in Ceuta.

Speaking after a meeting with his EU counterparts on Tuesday, French interior minister Laurent Nuñez, said there was no rift in the EU on the issue.

The informal online discussion was convened following the influx of tens of thousands of migrants last week into the Spanish enclave in North Africa.

Nuñez said all member states had "without exception" expressed solidarity with Spain and that the interference was trying "to sow division among” them.

“There was a certain amount of interference by foreign states which used these images to criticise the EU’s migration management policy,” he said.

He added that EU ministers "also praised the way the Spanish government had handled the situation” and “the remarkable cooperation with Morocco".

Nuñez said France had reinforced controls along its border with Spain following the mass migrant influx.

Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the surge of migrants into Ceuta has not compromised Europe’s visa-free Schengen travel zone.

He said border passport checks are in force between Ceuta and mainland Spain, adding that most of the migrants had already been returned to Morocco.

The sudden arrival of 50,000 to 60,000 migrants on Thursday and Friday sparked a humanitarian crisis in Ceuta and reignited the immigration debate in the 27-nation bloc.

More than 80 migrants died, including some who drowned or were trampled in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities.