Europe Lacks Coordination in Addressing Refugee Problem - Spanish FM

Spanish Foreign Minister claimed European states lack coordination in dealing with the refugee crisis, stressing that the current situation is unsatisfactory.

MADRID (Sputnik) — The European Union lacks coordination of its actions in addressing the refugee issue, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Tuesday.

"Europe lacks coordination of actions. The situation is unsatisfactory," Garcia-Margallo said at a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Madrid.

Europe is struggling to find a solution to a massive refugee crisis, resulting from hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa in search of better life conditions in wealthy EU states.

The EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.83 million illegal border crossings in 2015, in contrast to some 283,000 in 2014.

In response to the growing number of migrants reaching their territories, some European states, such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovenia have built fences, while other states, including Austria and Germany, have toughened their migration policies and introduced strict border controls.