Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and vice-president of the European Commission and EU high representative for foreign affairs Josep Borrell reaffirmed, on Thursday in Rabat, the two parties’ eagerness to expand their collaboration and preserve their partnership.
Bourita said that the EU is one the Kingdom’s top strategic partners, and there are many prospects for cooperation in areas such as migration, economic development, political dialogue, and the “Green Partnership”.
The Morocco-EU partnership has three bases which are good neighborliness, shared values, and common interests, he said.
The Moroccan Minister highlighted that the partnership is subject to constant media and judicial harassment from some EU institutions and at the European Parliament, a fact that negatively affects this partnership.
On the Sahara issue, he recalled that King Mohammed VI made it clear that the Sahara is the lens through which Morocco looks at the world and is the benchmark whereby Morocco measures the sincerity of friendships and the efficiency of partnerships.
Josep Borell stated that the EU recognizes the sincere and credible efforts made by Morocco to find a solution to the Sahara issue.
He stressed that the EU supports the UN process and the efforts made by the UNSG Personal Envoy to find a political solution that is realistic, practicable, and based on compromise.
The top European official also announced new initiatives to strengthen this partnership, namely an upcoming high-level dialogue on security that will be held in Rabat.
He called for enhancing cooperation in multilateral forums between Morocco and the EU, noting that “the international multilateral architecture must be reviewed” to allow other countries of the North and South to take part in this process of renewal.