EU High Representative Emphasizes Importance of EU-Morocco Partnership Amid Geopolitical Crisis

Rabat – EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has emphasized the importance of partnership between Morocco and the EU, noting that this cooperation is “more important than ever in the current geopolitical context.”

Borell made his remarks during a phone call with Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita on Wednesday.

“We discussed how to give new impetus to the EU-Morocco partnership, which is more important than ever in the current geopolitical context,” Borrell wrote on his X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.

Bourita and Borrell also discussed several bilateral and regional issues, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The ministry stressed that Rabat and Brussels are linked by a strategic partnership built on a “solid foundation of values and vision.”

It also recalled the launch of the Euro-Moroccan Partnership for Shared Prosperity in 2019 by the two parties to boost economic cooperation, and political consultation among others.

The phone call between Borrell and Bourita reflects the two parties’ determination to boost ties and cooperation despite pro-Polisario lobbyists targeting partnership agreements like the fisheries and agriculture agreements.

In March, Advocate General of the European Court of Justice Tamara Capeta alleged that the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement with Morocco did not comply with the “requirement” to treat the territory of Western Sahara as “separate and distinct” from Morocco.

While the remarks stand as a hostile position against Morocco’s territorial integrity, the recommendation brings no immediate change on the ground as the deal had already expired on July 17 of last year.