Morocco-Spain high-level meeting to be held early 2023

The Moroccan-Spanish high-level meeting is scheduled to be held early next year, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, announced on Tuesday in Rabat.

Speaking at a press briefing following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a Green Partnership with the European Union (EU), Bourita said the high-level meeting will be an “important moment” in the new phase of relations between Rabat and Madrid launched after the meeting between King Mohammed VI and the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, last April in Rabat.

“The high-level meeting is an important moment in our bilateral relations” with Madrid, he said, adding that it will take place early next year on a date to be agreed between the two countries.

“It will be an important moment that will reflect this positive state of mind, this state of mind oriented towards the respect of commitments that characterize today’s Moroccan-Spanish relations,” he stressed, recalling that the Joint Declaration between Rabat and Madrid adopted after discussions between the King and Sanchez “specifies the principles that define this new phase and helps define priorities and clarify positions on issues of interest to both countries”.

Since this joint statement, a roadmap has been established and is the subject of concerted work with the Spanish government, the Minister said.

“All the working groups have been activated with many elements that have been implemented and all the commitments contained in the roadmap will be respected and achieved,” he said, adding that the two partners will also have “sufficient time to prepare the parliamentary forum, the business forum and the mobilization of all stakeholders in this relationship.”
In a related development, Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Angeles Moreno Bau, told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies that the roadmap established between Spain and Morocco last April develops the ”potential of a strategic bilateral relationship.’

“With Morocco, we have begun a new stage based on clear principles and a roadmap, which develops the potential of a strategic relationship for both countries,” Angeles Moreno said this Wednesday before the Committee.

This roadmap is already giving “excellent results in all areas,” said the Spanish official, noting that the next milestone of this roadmap will be the holding of the high-level meeting.

Prior to the adoption of the roadmap and to his visit to Rabat, Pedro Sanchez had sent, on March 14, 2022, a letter to King Mohammed VI clearly expressing spain’s new stand on the Sahara.

The letter stated that Spain “considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented in 2007, as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute” over the Sahara

Since then, Moroccan-Spanish relations have been warming up with several Spanish officials reiterating this stand on the Sahara and commending Morocco as a trustworthy and reliable partner, particularly in counterterrorism and struggle against illegal immigration.
In her address before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies, Angeles Moreno stressed, with regard to the Sahara issue, that the position of Spain has been reiterated on many occasions by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and is clearly expressed in the letter sent on March 14, 2022 by president of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, to King Mohammed VI.

The Spanish Secretary of State made it clear that “the stability and prosperity of the Maghreb countries are essential for Europe, the Mediterranean and the Sahel.”

On Tuesday, while Bourita was announcing the holding of the high-level meeting, Spanish Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, commended from Badajoz, after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Luis Carneiro, the results of the efforts made jointly by Morocco and Spain in the fight against illegal immigration, and underlined the “close and firm” collaboration between Rabat and Madrid in this regard.

The cooperation relationship between Spain and Morocco in the fight against illegal immigration is “absolutely close, firm and real, which can only generate tranquility,” Grande-Marlaska told the press.

“We are working day after day with the Moroccan government to prevent and dismantle the organizations that practice human trafficking,” the Spanish official said, praising “the permanent contact and coordination” between the two countries.

“We are working together and permanently to prevent and fight the migration phenomenon,” he said.