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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has reaffirmed Madrid’s commitment to maintaining good relations with Morocco following King Felipe VI’s visit this week to the Spanish-administered cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

In remarks to the media on Thursday after arriving in Brussels for European Council meetings, Sánchez said the Spanish government had always sought to build the best possible relations with Morocco and maintain good-neighborly ties.

He also thanked European governments for their “solidarity” with Spain during the migration crisis in Ceuta at the end of July.

Sánchez highlighted divisions among EU member states over the bloc’s own resources and the funding needed to address a range of issues, including foreign policy.

He argued that reducing migration to Europe required not only border controls and efforts to combat irregular migration, but also cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

“What we cannot accept is the cutting of substantial amounts from cooperation and understanding policies with third countries, or with Latin American and African countries, particularly in West Africa,” he said, adding that such cuts would directly affect Spain.

Sánchez said more than 12,000 people had voluntarily returned since August 10, following the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta. More than 2,500 people had returned voluntarily in October alone, he added.

Turning to other European priorities, Sánchez described the climate emergency as a shared challenge rather than a problem for individual countries such as Spain, Italy, France or Germany.

He called for stronger joint financing for climate resilience and adaptation, arguing that energy security also required a collective European response.

Energy challenges, he said, had been exacerbated by shocks linked to Iran, the energy crisis resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine and certain policies pursued by other allied powers. These pressures required the mobilization of shared economic resources, he added.

Sánchez also reiterated Spain’s position that Europe should engage frankly and constructively with other major powers, including China, over trade imbalances.

He said the European Union faced a trade deficit that its economy could not sustain and called for a rebalancing of trade relations in a way that benefited both Europe and China.

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