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Join on Telegram US State Secretary Antony Blinken hosted Moroccan FM today at the State Department to discuss a wide range of timely issues regarding US-Morocco relations, including the sensitive question of Western Sahara.
In a brief press conference, Blinken welcomed Bourita to the State Department, emphasizing the importance of partnership and cooperation between Morocco and the US.
“We have a long-standing partnership with Morocco, one that we want to strengthen and deepen,” Blinken said.
He added that Bourita’s visit will serve as an opportunity to shed light on different aspects of the US-Morocco relationship, including the re-establishment of relations between Morocco and Israel.
The Biden administration has long expressed support for the Trump administration-brokered Israel-Morocco rapprochement that was announced in December 2020.
In July this year, the US State Department issued a statement that spoke in emphatically positive terms of the inauguration of a direct flight route between Israel and Morocco.
“We are very pleased to see the launch of El AI’s inaugural flight today from Tel Aviv to Marrakech,” the state department said.
In addition to the US-assisted “normalization agreement” between Morocco and Israel, Blinken and Bourita are also said to have discussed the recent developments in the Western Sahara conflict, particularly the appointment of Staffan De Mistura as the new UN envoy.
Both the Moroccan Foreign Ministry and the US State Department are yet to publish a detailed statement on what Blinken and Bourita said on the Western Sahara question.
Prior to today’s meeting, however, most observers expected the two diplomats to reiterate their countries’ shared commitment to UN-led efforts towards a lasting compromise-based solution to the Sahara dispute.
The US government has previously expressed its hope to see De Mistura’s appointment contribute to reviving the UN-led efforts toward finding a mutually acceptable political solution to the Western Sahara dispute.
In a statement following De Mistura’s appointment, Blinken said the US will supporte De Mistura in his mission to convene all the parties to the conflict – Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and the Polisario Front – around the same negotiating table after years of diplomatic stagnation.
The White House has repeatedly emphasized its position on the Trump administration’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, effectively making the US part of a growing list of countries that see Rabat’s Autonomy Plan as a “credible” and “serious solution to end the conflict.
In a brief statement on his US visit, Moroccan FM spoke of the “long-standing partnership” between Rabat and Washington, adding that it is “always a pleasure to be” in the US.
“It is time to enrich it [the US-Morocco relationship] more,” Bourita said, emphasizing the need for further bilateral cooperation to address common challenges, including climate change and the fight against extremism.
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The visit of Bourita comes three weeks after the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2602, which called on the conflicting parties to commit to the pragmatism and realism spirit of the UN-led political process.
The resolution consolidated Morocco’s recent diplomatic gains. It emphasized Algeria’s role as a main party to the conflict, while tacitly acknowledging Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the best route toward a sustainable and realistic political solution to the Sahara conflict.
