Morocco is a “friendly” country and a “fundamental ally” for Spain’s security and economic development, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday.
”Morocco is a friendly country, a fundamental ally for the economic development of Spain and our gateway to Africa, as well as a fundamental ally for our security and in the management of orderly immigration in our country and on the European continentn”, stressed Sanchez before the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
”Spain and Morocco adopted, in April 2022, a roadmap with clear objectives. In this context, the work carried out over the past year has given rise to very positive results.”observed the President of the Spanish Government, assuring that the two countries have opened ”a new stage on much more solid foundations”.
In this context, Pedro Sanchez said to himself ”convinced” that the objectives of the last High Level Meeting, held last February in Rabat, ”have been largely achieved”, recalling that this meeting enabled the conclusion of some twenty bilateral agreements.
Since the signing of the Joint Declaration in April 2022, maritime and air links have been resumed, Operation Marhaba has been successfully organized and discussions to restore the Tarfaya-Fuerteventura maritime line have been relaunched, he quoted .
Furthermore, Sanchez welcomed the bilateral cooperation in migration matters, noting that the results of the ”good management” of this question are ‘‘eloquent’.
”Today, the Atlantic route is the only route in Europe that is shrinking amid a general increase in irregular migration to the European continent”noted the President of the Spanish Government, specifying that in the first quarter of 2023 the arrivals of irregular migrants fell by 63% in the Canary Islands, while in Greece and Italy they increased by 95% and by 300% respectively.
Regarding economic and trade cooperation, Sanchez indicated that the level of exports between Spain and Morocco approached 12 billion euros in 2022, adding that this trend is consolidating more and more.
”For the first time in the history of democracy in our country, we have the great opportunity to place relations between Spain and Morocco under the sign of genuine and mutually beneficial cooperation”Sanchez argued, pointing out that ‘‘the strategic relationship with Morocco is based on mutual respect, the absence of unilateral actions and the systematic respect of agreements”.
On the basis of the new roadmap, adopted on April 7, 2022 on the occasion of Pedro Sanchez’s visit to Morocco, at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, the two countries have undertaken, among other things, to deal with the subjects of common interest in a “spirit of trust and consultation”while reactivating the working groups created between the two countries to relaunch multi-sector bilateral cooperation.