At a virtual ministerial conference on the EU’s “Southern Neighborhood,” Croatia welcomed Morocco’s stance.
Rabat – Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman stated his country “welcomes” Morocco’s commitment to the 1991 Western Sahara ceasefire. His statement came during a discussion at the international ministerial teleconference on the EU’s southern neighborhood hosted from Barcelona on Thursday.
Radman said Croatia welcomes “Morocco’s commitment to the ceasefire as well as to the freedom of civil and commercial movement through the passage of El Guerguarat.” The Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs released a statement following the Barcelona conference in which he urged a resumption of the UN-led political process to resolve the Western Sahara dispute.
Croatia’s top diplomat highlighted the “capital importance” of regional stability for the EU’s southern neighbors. Radman considered it important for the EU to “engage” with countries on its periphery through “stronger and more structured cooperation.”
He hoped such enhanced cooperation would be able to promote “security, sustainable economic growth and regional integration, in addition to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Croatia is a member state of the EU, which had already expressed its support for Morocco’s efforts to respect and maintain the 1991 ceasefire that brought peace to the region after years of fighting. The EU’s Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, stated that “tensions must give way to the political process,” on November 14, shortly after Morocco lifted the border blockade.
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Further European support for Morocco’s operation came today through the president of the France-Morocco inter-parliamentary friendship group of the French Senate, Christian Cambon.
Cambon stated he supports Morocco’s operation aimed at restoring the free movement of goods and people at the El Guerguerat border crossing.
Cambon expressed a deep attachment to the 1991 ceasefire and called on the UN to help facilitate a renewed political process to resolve tensions. The French senator stated that he considers Morocco to be France’s “best ally in Africa” after saying that “France stands alongside Morocco.”
“For 45 years, the Kingdom of Morocco has made considerable efforts for this region and its inhabitants,” Cambon stressed, highlighting local investment in “education, health, housing, economic activities and infrastructure.” He stated that France supports a “lasting and mutually agreed solution” through the UN, and in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan is a “serious and credible basis for a negotiated solution ” Cambon underlined.
