![Spanish Representatives Oppose Morocco’s Joint Bid with Spain and Portugal Spain’ Prime Minister proposed a trio bid with Morocco and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup; but the idea does not appear to be popular with Spanish politicians. The representatives of two Spanish political parties, the People’s Party and the Citizens-Party, have said they do not want Spain to submit a joint candidacy with Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup. In a meeting organized by the National Federation of Sports Facilities Entrepreneurs (FNEID) in Madrid, the People’s party representative, Vicente Azpitarte dismissively spoke about Spain joining a trio with Morocco and Portugal to organize the World Cup. Azpitarte specifically wondered whether Spain would get any advantages from teaming up with the two countries, t Spanish news outlet Iusport reported on Wednesday. The Citizens-Party representative, Roberto Nunez, agreed with Azpitarte. “We do not intend to organize a World Cup with other countries. Spain has more than enough capacity [to organize the World Cup], it is a country that has already organized a World Cup, and we do not understand that proposal,” Nunez said. The adviser of United Podemos, Oscar Penas, stated that he does not clearly see why “the priority is to organize a World Cup or an Olympiad at this time.” Morocco and Spain cooperate on a number of issues, ranging from security and migration to trade and education. On November 18, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, arrived in Morocco for a first visit since his election to premiership. During his visit, Sanchez proposed to both Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and King Mohammed VI a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup. “We are launching a joint message, which is that this will be a bid between two continents. The King of Morocco is receptive and we’re going to work on it with Portugal. We are very excited about it,” Sanchez said.](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ABL-Launches-in-Casablanca-Becoming-Africa’s-First-Aircraft-Leaser-180x135.jpeg "ABL Launches in Casablanca, Becoming Africa’s First Aircraft Leaser")
Rabat - The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, has responded to the ruling of the European Court of Justice regarding the EU-Morocco relationship and the Moroccan Sahara, reaffirming that “nothing in the [ECJ’s] verdict challenges the political legitimacy of Morocco to conclude agreements regarding the Moroccan Sahara with the EU.”
Rabat – The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, has responded to the ruling of the European Court of Justice regarding the EU-Morocco relationship and the Moroccan Sahara, reaffirming that “nothing in the [ECJ’s] verdict challenges the political legitimacy of Morocco to conclude agreements regarding the Moroccan Sahara with the EU.”
On February 27, the ECJ decided that the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco is, “valid insofar as it is not applicable to Western Sahara or to its adjacent waters,” adding that, if the EU and Morocco included the Western Sahara region in their agreement, it would violate certain rules of “international law applicable to relations between the EU and Kingdom of Morocco.”
In an interview with Moroccan news outlet Le360, the official said that the court has not followed the opinions of the Advocate General at the ECJ, Wathelet Melchior, who previously said that the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement should be “annulled.”
Bourita reaffirmed that the high court of the EU has at no time “invalidated” the Morocco-EU fisheries agreement.
The Moroccan diplomat also lauded the strategic partnership that links between Morocco and EU on different levels, stating that the two parties will continue to work to consolidate their cooperation and fishery ties.
“The Kingdom is equivalent to the sum of all of its territories from Tangier to Lagouira,” Bourita added.
