Morocco uncompromising on its territorial integrity, FM

Morocco will never compromise on its territorial integrity at the UN-led direct talks in Geneva next December, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said.

Speaking to Le Monde, Bourita said that any solution that undermines Morocco’s territorial integrity or that advocates the unfeasible referendum option will be rejected by Morocco.

Bourita who made the interview last week while he was in Paris where he met his French peer Jean Yves Le Drian, said the visit aimed at enhancing cooperation with France ahead of a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco.

Some Moroccan media outlets said that King Mohammed VI and President Macron will chair the inauguration ceremony of the high speed train TGV in mid-November.

On Libya, Bourita stressed that fostering Libya’s security should be as important as the political process, noting that organizing elections hinges on strengthening the country’s stability to avert degradation of the security conditions, which marred the capital Tripoli.

However, he deplored that the Skhirat agreement remains inactivated, noting that the implementation of the agreement could have paved the way for a political transition in the war-torn country.

“I met Ghassan Salamé, UN Envoy to Libya, few days ago in Rabat. We had a long conversation on how to make Palermo’s meeting a milestone to prepare conditions propitious for holding elections in Libya,” he said.

Migration was also on the agenda. Bourita explained that Morocco launched a campaign to grant legal stay to 50,000 people in three years, 90% of which were admitted.

He said the EU has promised €140 million in aid to Morocco but added that the EU has to adopt a coherent approach.