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Rabat – Moroccan foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, stated on Tuesday, October 26, that “it is time for the African Union (AU)-European Union (EU) partnership to be strategically updated.”
The Moroccan FM delivered the statement in Kigali, while representing Morocco in the AU-EU summit preparatory meeting.
Bourita highlighted that the intercontinental partnership should not be reduced to adopting documents and applauding hard-negotiated consensus, but should be more result focused instead.
Referring to the strategic nature of the Africa-Europe partnership, the Minister noted that the partnership was the result of a “common desire to build a space for dialogue and cooperation for security, development and shared prosperity.”
Bourita acknowledged that the partnership has “proven its relevance, since all parties have remained committed to it for two decades,” but added that a restructure is now needed to achieve the goals outlined in the Declarations of the Cairo Summit of April 2000 and the Abidjan Summit of November 2017.
In reference to the 6th AU-EU Summit scheduled for next February in Brussels, the Moroccan FM said that this summit will be an opportunity to revitalize the Africa-Europe partnership.
He also welcomed a proposal by the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Biruta, for the creation of a Ministerial Monitoring and Implementation Committee to ensure tangible results and effective implementation of the objectives.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”fr” dir=”ltr”>M. Bourita: Le Partenariat UE-Afrique est né, en 2000, d’une volonté commune, celle de bâtir un espace de dialogue et de coopération pour la sécurité, le développement et la prospérité partagée. <a href=”https://t.co/iVeCvK2mQk”>pic.twitter.com/iVeCvK2mQk</a></p>— Maroc Diplomatie ?? (@MarocDiplomatie) <a href=”https://twitter.com/MarocDiplomatie/status/1453018471554600960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
According to the Rwandan minister, this committee could contribute to making the AU-EU partnership more visible among populations on both continents, particularly among the younger population, through the identification and development of activities that have an impact on daily life.
Bourita announced that Morocco is willing to be part of this committee and host its first meeting.
On the sidelines of his participation in the 2nd AU-EU Ministerial Meeting, Bourita held a series of bilateral meetings with several African and European foreign ministers.
This 2nd meeting is jointly chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Christophe Lutundula, whose country currently chairs the AU, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell.
