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Roots of migration should be fought: NB8 ministers

Xinhua, September 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Foreign ministers of Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) said here on Thursday that the roots of the migration crisis in Europe should be tackled to handle what they called an "unprecedented problem".

Addressing a press conference on the heels of the NB8 foreign ministers meeting, Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said every country had its own history and culture to take into account when addressing this migration issue.

"Although we don't have a common approach to what should be done, we have a common approach to being focused on fighting the roots of migration," said Jensen.

"We should not only look at the short-term problems that we certainly have in Europe, but also look at the long-term solutions to how to create a society where we don't see these migration floods that we are seeing right now," he added.

Echoing his comments, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said there was currently a lot of discussion and doubt about the distribution of responsibility among EU countries regarding the intake of refugees, noting that the migration issue would be at the top of the EU agenda for a long time.

"In my view, we have to agree on how to deal with it and on how to provide a solution," Wallstrom said.

"Hopefully, we will be able to find a way forward that will include the more extreme positions that exist in Europe. That is because there are different experiences and different histories in our countries and also political tensions on this issue," she said.

"We have to send a very clear signal that we want to and we will handle it, and we'll be able to manage this enormous challenge," added the minister.

At the meeting, foreign ministers and their representatives from the eight Nordic and Baltic countries, namely Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuanian, Norway and Sweden, exchanged views concerning the security situation in the Nordic and Baltic region as well as the issue of climate change ahead of sustainability summit COP21 in Paris later this year. Endit