In a social media post on Saturday, Kõlvart pointed to Spain's Ceuta migration crisis as a warning of how quickly border pressures can escalate. He said decisions by authorities and courts had contributed to a situation where tens of thousands of people entered Europe within a short period.

"We can speculate about how much of this happened unintentionally and to what extent someone from the outside deliberately contributed to it, but in any case, it showed how easily such a crisis can emerge and escalate," he said, adding that migration pressure has also been used as a hybrid tactic against Europe.

Kõlvart said these recent events also serve as a reminder that in a crisis, every country must first look after its own interests. He cited Italy's temporary restoration of border controls with Spain as an example.

"Estonia, too, must also put its own interests first and prioritize its own security," he stressed.

The opposition party chair criticized Prime Minister Kristen Michal's (Reform) recent statement that free movement in Europe is a top priority and that temporarily reinstating Schengen border controls is not in Estonia's interests, calling the stance a slogan disconnected from reality.

"Free movement does not outweigh the need to mitigate the security threats Europe is currently facing," Kõlvart said.

'Estonia isn't prepared for this'

He also dismissed the prime minister's calls to hold those organizing the migration accountable as just rhetoric, saying things have already spiraled out of control and the damage has already been done in Spain.

"Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that Estonia currently isn't prepared for migration crises like this either," Kõlvart said, warning that even a crisis a fraction of that size would be catastrophic for Estonia.

"This does not mean that everyone should fend for themselves in difficult times or that no one should help an EU member state in need," he continued. "Of course we must help Spain, but Spain itself must also take appropriate steps toward resolving this crisis, and take steps to prevent it from happening again."

Kõlvart said the issue cannot be addressed by allowing problems to spread across Europe. While acknowledging that many migrants who arrived in Spain have since left, he said guarantees are needed that further migration waves will not follow.

"Until then, temporarily restoring border controls is a necessary and justified step," he concluded.

PM supports Spain, rejects border controls

Approximately 60,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco this week. As of Friday evening, more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco, Spanish officials said.

The influx comes after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish enclave, cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.

Michal signed a joint letter with 21 other member states addressed to the EU's top leaders on Saturday calling for "an immediate and coordinated European response."

Responding to comments from opposition Isamaa chair Urmas Reinsalu, the prime minister also pushed back on the suggestion that suspending free movement within the EU's Schengen area would be justified in such a critical situation.

Calling the Schengen area a "great value," Michal wrote on social media that establishing new internal borders within it is in no way in Estonia's interests.

"None of us wants to return to a time when traveling overland to Central Europe meant passing through more than five cumbersome border checks," he said.

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