Spain PM urges EU nations to confront migrant crisis as 'common challenge'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday urged all members of the European Union (EU) to unite and confront the migrant crisis as a "common challenge".

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Reducing the inequality of the migrants among EU member states should be one of the objectives for the European Union at present and in future, Sanchez told a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"This is something that we can only achieve as a whole, not with isolated sight among the member states of the European Union. I think Spain and Germany share that vision," he said.

Sanchez held talks with Merkel in the city of San Lucar de Barrameda in southern Spain.

Merkel told the press conference that the migrants should be distributed equally among EU members. "They have to be spread across the European Union, as this is a challenge for all members, not just for a few countries," Merkel said.

Speaking after her arrival on Saturday, Merkel said her country is backing Spain's bid to stem the flow of migrants from Morocco to Europe via the Mediterranean, days after the two European countries signed a bilateral refugee deal, German news agency DPA reported.

Honest cooperation with African nations was important to secure the return of rejected asylum seekers, she added.

Sanchez said that Spain "is under enormous migration pressure coming from countries south of the Sahara", according to DPA.

"We should reject the opportunism of those who only promise to repeat the solutions that have failed of the past," he added.

"We can't only talk about controlling the borders and the coasts of Europe, but also have to reinforce secondary movements and cooperation with African countries. Both Spain and Germany plan to do so," Sanchez said.

On Monday, Berlin and Madrid reached an agreement to send migrants arriving in Germany back to Spain within 48 hours if they already have a pending asylum request there. Spain is the first EU country to sign such an agreement with Germany.

When asked whether the deal was only symbolic, given that so few asylum-seekers actually arrive in Germany after registering in Spain, Merkel said that it showed "that Germany and Spain support a European solution" to the migration question.

Merkel is hoping to strike similar deals with Greece and Italy, after a major showdown on asylum policy with German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer that threatened to topple her coalition in early July.

Spain has rescued 22,858 migrants from the sea during the first seven months of 2018, according to a government report, which is more than any other country in the EU.

Both Sanchez and Merkel confirmed that the EU will increase the funds for Morocco, the key country to control migratory pressure on the coasts of southern Spain, although neither of them specified the amount.