Paris - The agreement on judicial cooperation convention amendment between Morocco and France, signed on Saturday in Paris, shows common will to bolster this mechanism so that it brings more serenity to bilateral relations, Moroccan foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar told French-speaking daily "Le Monde" on Monday.
Paris – The agreement on judicial cooperation convention amendment between Morocco and France, signed on Saturday in Paris, shows common will to bolster this mechanism so that it brings more serenity to bilateral relations, Moroccan foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar told French-speaking daily “Le Monde” on Monday.
This agreement is the outcome of a long process of work and talks, he said, noting that the French side has realized that this is not a sudden change of mood by Morocco, “but rather a pressing need to respect our institutions, legal framework and mutual commitments.”
Some events have prejudiced the credibility of the Moroccan legal system and that of Moroccan officials. There was a problem to be fixed, he said, adding that “our legal cooperation framework needed to be updated.”
Morocco will never accept that somebody behaves that way with the Kingdom. This does not apply to France only, he insisted, underlining that Morocco requires respect and esteem and does not ask for immunity or impunity.
The minister went on to say that he will meet, as soon as possible, with his French peer Laurent Fabius to complete this process.
On another topic, Mezouar said that Morocco has no problem, whatsoever, regarding France’s strengthening its relation with Algeria.
“We are not in a competition with Algeria. Algeria is a neighboring country that we respect, with which we have a huge problem but not to the extent of considering its friendly countries as enemies,” he said, stressing that “this is neither our culture, nor our vision.”
Referring to Morocco’s decision to boycott the march dated Jan. 11, the Minister said that Morocco, which voiced its solidarity with France as it rejects all forms of violence against innocents, does not accept offending sensibilities.
