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Rabat – Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares has said his country will always act as a bridge to facilitate a “mutually beneficial” relationship between Morocco and the EU.
The EU and Morocco are essential partners, Albares told Spanish news agency EFE on Tuesday, pledging Madrid’s support for better relations between Rabat and Brussels.
“We believe that Morocco and the European Union are two essential partners for each other and that their relationship is mutually beneficial,” the Spanish official said.
Albares made the comments during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague, where he was asked about the decision of Morocco’s FM Nasser Bourita to cancel his meeting with the EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell.
Last week, several media reports quoted Moroccan government sources as emphasizing that Bourita canceled his meeting with Borrell scheduled in September.
As the decision came just a few days after the EU High Representatives’ remarks on Spain’s position on Western Sahara, it signaled Morocco’s determination to demand of its partners’ “clear and unambiguous” support for its Western Sahara stance.
Borrell stirred anger from Moroccan officials and politicians when he claimed in a recent interview that Spain’s position on Western Sahara is in line with the EU stance on the dispute.
“The position of the Spanish government was and is that of the EU, and that is defending the holding of a consultation so that it is the Sahrawi people who decide how they want their future to be,” the EU high representative said last week.
Read also: Bourita: Borrell’s ‘Regrettable’ Remarks Contradict Spain, EU’s Positions
Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita almost immediately responded to Borrell’s remarks, describing them as “regrettable.”
“This is a regrettable statement that does not reflect Spain’s position or Europe’s position. We had direct discussions with Josep Borell which clarified things,” Bourita said. He emphasized that the EU recently issued a communique in which it reiterated its support for the UN-led political pushing for a realistic and politically negotiated solution to the dispute over Western Sahara.
In the statement it issued after Borrell’s comments, the EU lauded Morocco’s commitment to the UN-led political process to find a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute.
“The EU also reiterated support for the UN efforts to reach a just, realistic, and lasting political solution to the Sahara issue.”
But even as the EU attempted to distance itself from Borrell’s comments, its statement of support was not as clear as Spain’s declaration of support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan.
The Spanish government announced its endorsement of the Moroccan plan in March, describing it as the most serious and credible route to a lasting solution to the Sahara dispute.
At the Prague meeting, the Spanish FM appeared to underline his country’s commitment to securing EU support for Morocco’s stance on the Sahara. “What we want is for the European Union to have the same relationship with Morocco that Spain has and that Spain is building, a solid relationship of mutual benefit, mutual respect, and at the same time the same relationship that the European Union has with all neighbors of the Mediterranean,” he stressed.
