Grande-Marlaska and Síkela agree on strengthening migration cooperation with Sahel countries

Meeting between the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Josef Síkela

The Minister for Home Affairs agreed with the European Commissioner for International Partnerships on strengthening cooperation and funding with Sahel countries to ensure that the European migration pact is effective. "We need the EU to reinforce the preventive approach. If the number of irregular arrivals is high, it will be very difficult for the pact to succeed", he told the commissioner this Tuesday during a meeting in Madrid.

"Spain has defended this preventive approach in all forums, based on two decades of experience of cooperation policy with the countries of origin and transit of migration", said Grande-Marlaska, who informed Síkela of the deployment of National Police and Civil Guard troops in Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, in cooperation with local police forces to fight human trafficking mafias.

The Minister for Home Affairs highlighted the results of this cooperation, which has made it possible to reduce migratory flows on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands by up to 40 percent at source. Grande-Marlaska highlighted the decrease in irregular arrivals in Spain, which as of 30 April show a 30 percent decrease nationally and a 34 percent decrease in the Canary Islands, compared to the same period in 2024.

The minister supported the continuation of police cooperation projects, such as the Joint Investigation Teams (JIT), the Joint Operational Partnerships (COP) or GARSI Sahel, "which have contributed to strengthening the structures of the rule of law, combating the illegal trafficking of people, monitoring borders and combating organised crime and terrorism" in African countries. "Cooperation is crucial to ensure security in Africa and, by extension, in Europe," he stressed.

The minister stressed the "key importance" of Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria and Gambia in migratory flows to Europe and insisted that cooperation should come not only from the Member States most affected, but also from the European Commission. In this regard, Grande-Marlaska thanked the Commissioner for the fact that Mauritania was the first country to be visited by the European Commission following its constitution in December 2024.

Grande-Marlaska pointed to the new Multiannual Financial Framework as the "great opportunity" to improve investment in the Sahel and to commit "structural and predictable funding", adapted to the challenges of the main migratory routes, "including the Atlantic", he remarked.

In addition to economic and financial aid and the provision of equipment, the minister called for Frontex's presence on the ground in these countries and advocated introducing changes to the European agency's regulation, which is due to be reviewed in 2026, with the aim of strengthening its external dimension and providing it with the instruments needed to reach cooperation agreements with third countries.

Non official translation