European Commission Says Illegal Migration Down 55 Percent in Two Years

European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, has stated that the number of illegal crossings at the European Union’s external borders has fallen by 55 per cent over the past two years, and by nearly 40 per cent since the beginning of 2026.

‘Illegal migration has decreased by 55 per cent in the last two years. There has been a further drop of almost 40 per cent so far this year,’ Brunner said during a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday.

According to him, more than 49,000 cases of illegal border crossings have been recorded at the EU’s external borders since the start of this year. ‘This figure is roughly equivalent to the number of people who arrived on the Greek islands alone in a single week in October 2015,’ Brunner noted.

Last week, the city of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave located in North Africa bordering Morocco, faced a massive influx of migrants. Approximately 60,000 people crossed into the city in one day, despite Ceuta’s population being only around 85,000.

Officials in several EU member states, including Denmark, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Finland, have called for a temporary suspension of Spain’s membership in the Schengen area.