Rabat – Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said during Thursday’s weekly cabinet meeting that the agriculture agreement with the EU “is the fruit of a long struggle of nearly two years.”
During the meeting, El Othmani said that the agreement confirms that Morocco cannot compromise when it comes to its sovereignty and national integrity.
The head of government said that “one of the lessons learned from the European Parliament’s decision is Morocco’s insistence on preserving its rights and sovereignty over all its territory.”
He also emphasized the importance of Morocco’s diplomacy and its key role in all agreements.
Read Also: European Parliament Passes EU-Morocco Agriculture Agreement
The agreement, according to El Othmani, will positively affect a number of future agreements.
Moroccan expert on Western Sahara Abdelfettah Elfattihi told Morocco World News today that “the adoption of the agriculture agreement reflects a strengthening of the partnership between the two parties.”
استقبل رئيس الحكومة الدكتور #سعدالدين_العثماني صباح اليوم بمقر رئاسة الحكومة السيدة Federica Mogherini الممثلة العليا للاتحاد الأوروبي للشؤون الخارجية والسياسة الأمنية. وتباحثا مختلف أوجه التعاون المغربي الأوروبي، خاصة في إطار الإصلاحات الكبرى التي تباشرها الحكومة المغربية. pic.twitter.com/3pOcIi0qYx
— رئيس الحكومة -المغرب (@ChefGov_ma) January 17, 2019
He added that the EU decision will create a “legal structure that would facilitate many economic and development activities and opens the way for arranging other cooperation aspects between the two parties.”
El Othmani also criticized Polisario’s maneuvers against Morocco, saying that they are “confronted by the appropriate legal and political means” to preserve Morocco’s sovereignty without any leniency or compromise.
Read Also: Polisario, Algeria Frustrated over EU-Morocco Partnership Agreements
Yesterday, 444 EU parliamentarians voted in favor of the agriculture agreement. The vote followed the signing of the fisheries agreement between Morocco and the EU on Monday.
El Othmani also met with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, who began her two-day visit to Morocco on Wednesday evening and already met Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita.
El Othmani met with the EU official this morning.
According to El Othmani, the meeting was to praise the quality of the Moroccan-EU partnership and the level of continuous coordination between them.
The two parties also commended the promising prospects for the partnership, especially after the adoption of the agriculture agreement.
In a press conference co-chaired with Bourita, Mogherini said that the new partnership will also bring Morocco and the EU closer because it forms a measure to continue Morocco’s reform of the 2011 Constitution.
