Spanish FM appreciates efforts of Spain and Morocco's security forces in Melilla

Berlin, Jun 24 (EFE).- Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, thanked Friday the work of the Spanish security forces and the cooperation of the Moroccan gendarmerie to enforce sovereignty at the Melilla border fence.

Around 2,000 migrants on Friday attempted to breach the border between Morocco and the Spanish North African territory of Melilla, officials said.

It was the first mass breach of the border since May 2021, when thousands of migrants irregularly entered Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish territory in North Africa, amid a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat. (Camera: LUCAS TARANCÓN).

SHOT LIST: SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER, JOSÉ MANUEL ALBARES, SPEAKS TO MEDIA ABOUT FOOD CRISIS, IN BERLIN, GERMANY. SOUND BITES: SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER, JOSÉ MANUEL ALBARES (IN SPANISH).

TRANSLATION:

- I would like to recognize the work of the State Security bodies that defend the sovereignty of Spain and our territorial integrity at the Mellilla border fence and (I would) also to recognize the work and collaboration of the Moroccan gendarmerie without whose collaboration today we would not have been able to fight so effectively against the mafias that trade human beings and that trade people's hopes for a better future and their desperation to reach Europe.

- The border between Europe and Africa remains the most unequal border on the planet. Whether you look at the income per capita, maternal and child health, the population pyramid, whatever - we will continue to see desperate people legitimately seeking a better life and therefore migratory pressure will continue.