Morocco attached to international law, direct negotiations with Spain to delimit maritime borders

Morocco and Spain are currently engaged in direct negotiations aimed at defining their maritime boundaries in line with international law, foreign minister Nasser Bourita said.

Speaking at an international seminar on maritime border delimitations, Bourita explained that the process will be conducted in full respect of Morocco’s national sovereignty, particularly in the southern provinces.

He described the initiative as part of a broader framework of neighborliness, transparency, and mutual interest.

“This issue is being approached with a spirit of cooperation and strategic partnership,” Bourita said, highlighting the maturity of bilateral relations between the two nations.

The minister linked the current efforts to the legacy of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which laid the legal foundations for maritime space governance. In this context, Morocco has initiated the extension of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Montego Bay Convention, Morocco submitted preliminary data to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2017. This was followed by the adoption of two key laws in 2020, reinforcing the country’s legal framework for territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone.

Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s unwavering commitment to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, rejecting any unilateral actions or approaches that contradict international law.

“Our doctrine on maritime boundary delimitation does not rely on faits accomplis. We respond firmly to any attempt at imposition, always within the bounds of maritime law,” he asserted.