EU, Morocco Reiterate Common Desire to Deepen Strategic Partnership
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, reiterated, Thursday in Rabat, the common will of the EU and Morocco to deepen and expand their strategic partnership.
“I wish to reiterate the strong commitment of the EU to this partnership and our willingness to expand, deepen and do what is necessary to preserve its legal framework,” said Borrell at a joint press briefing after his talks with Bourita.
“We, the EU and Morocco, are building a strong and strategic partnership based on joint and concrete actions,” said the head of European diplomacy, stressing that the Kingdom, “one of the most dynamic and closest partners of the EU”, plays a “leading role” in the Mediterranean area and in the implementation of the new agenda for the Mediterranean.
“Without doubt, the Kingdom of Morocco is the southern Mediterranean partner that has implemented the most powerful convergence policies with the EU,” he said.
He also emphasized the willingness of the EU to further promote EU investment in Morocco, to support Moroccan youth, to strengthen the long-standing partnership in the management of migration and to expand the scope of its partnership with the Kingdom to new areas, such as digital.
He concluded that the EU and Morocco can face the challenges together in a coordinated and responsible way.
For his part, Bourita emphasized “the important place” of the EU as a strategic partner and first choice of the Kingdom.
“It is a partnership of neighborhood, values and interests,” he said, stressing that the convergence between Moroccan national priorities and European priorities, makes it easier to develop this partnership in programs and concrete projects.
“We will work to concretize the Green Partnership, signed last year to finalize and advance on the digital partnership and other projects, including that of education and training, as well as all areas at the heart of the relationship between Morocco and the EU,” said the Minister.
This partnership, “which needs to be nurtured and enriched,” is “a partnership of geographical proximity, shared values and converging interests and it is around these three parameters that Morocco will continue to work with the EU,” said Bourita.
Borrell, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom to strengthen the EU-Morocco partnership, held talks with the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, during which both officials expressed the joint willingness of Morocco and the EU to deepen the dialogue and cooperation in the framework of their strategic partnership.
This landmark partnership has continued to develop in recent years, becoming a reference in the EU’s neighborhood policy.
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