German chancellor tells Spain to secure EU's external border

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday urged Spain to quickly regain control of the situation in Ceuta after tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish territory from Morocco.

"The protection of the European Union's external borders is crucial for combating illegal migration," the conservative chancellor said. He also called on Morocco to "take back the illegal migrants immediately."

The comments came after Spanish media reported that nearly 50,000 migrants had crossed irregularly from Morocco into the Spain's North African territory of Ceuta over the past several days, sparking a political debate in the EU over border security.

Merz said he welcomed Madrid's stated intention to prevent the migrants from travelling onward to mainland Europe, where France has already announced new security measures along its border with Spain.

Franziska Hoppermann, the newly appointed secretary general of Merz's Christian Democrats, also warned against losing control of the EU's external border.

"Illegal migration threatens our country and our society. There must be no loss of control at the borders," Hoppermann told dpa.