Morocco Throws Full Weight before Launch of AU-EU Summit

Morocco is a key player in the African-European dialogue in view of its advanced ties with the European Union and its increasing clout in Africa.

Morocco will consequently be represented in the 5th African Union-European Union Summit, slated for November 29-30 in Abidjan, at the highest level by King Mohammed VI who is already in Côte d’Ivoire on a working and friendly visit.

Prior to the AU-EU summit, Morocco put its full weight to gather support for its ECOWAS membership, an event that will build on the triumphal return of the Kingdom with an overwhelming majority to the African Union last year.

The ECOWAS membership was the main issue discussed during talks between Morocco’s foreign minister Nasser Bourita and Chairperson of the commission of the ECOWAS Marcel de Souza on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting preceding the 5th African Union-European Union Summit.

The ministerial meeting was also a chance to hold bilateral talks with partner EU countries such as the Netherlands whose foreign minister Halbe Zijlstra discussed with Bourita a set of issues of common concern.

Zijlstra told the press following the talks that Morocco is a key partner in Africa notably in the field of fighting illegal immigration. The North African Kingdom is a bridge between the two continents, he said.

Bourita is leading a large Moroccan delegation to this ministerial meeting including Morocco’s ambassador to the EU Council and the European Commission, Ahmed Reda Chami, Morocco’s ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and the Kingdom’s representative to the African Union, Nezha Alaoui Mhammdi, and Director General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), Ambassador Mohamed Methqal.