The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita expressed, on Friday in Dakhla, Morocco’s total solidarity with Burkina Faso in its efforts to fight against extremism and terrorism.
“Morocco strongly condemns the cowardly attacks that have targeted Burkina Faso, a brother country, and which are contrary to the spirit of tolerance and coexistence that has always marked this country,” said Nasser Bourita during a joint press briefing with his Burkinabé counterpart, Olivia Ragnaghnewendé Rouamba, at the end of the 4th session of the Morocco-Burkina Faso Mixed Commission.
In this regard, he pointed out that the situation in Burkina Faso is closely linked to the instability raging in the Sahel and Sahara region, where armed and terrorist groups have found fertile ground favoring their proliferation, specifying that more than 60% of terrorist operations in the world are committed in sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of victims of terrorist operations in this region exceeds that recorded in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, he lamented.
“Today, there are at least 12 terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and Sahara region, which are in collusion with 19 separatist groups that threaten the territorial integrity of African countries,” he said. observe, stressing that the scourge of the infiltration of terrorist groups in Africa is a general phenomenon.
Burkina Faso, which is in the line of fire, needs support and backing, given that the fight against terrorism in this country will have an impact on the entire Sahel region and West Africa, he continued.
The Kingdom, which has made the fight against extremism and terrorism an absolute priority, always calls on the international community to pay particular attention to this scourge, by providing support for the measures and actions taken by African countries confronted with this phenomenon, according to a holistic and innovative approach combining humanitarian action, development and peacebuilding, with a view to putting an end to the phenomenon of terrorism and violent extremism, he argued.
Mr. Bourita affirmed that Morocco follows with interest the development of the transition process in Burkina Faso and has confidence in the capacity of the leaders of this country to face all the developments that the country is experiencing with wisdom and by making prevail the supreme national interest, stressing that the measures taken in recent months by President Ibrahim Traoré are important to strengthen stability and relaunch the development process in this brotherly country.
After stressing that the transition process is on the right track, Nasser Bourita noted that Morocco still considers that the elections are not an end in themselves, but are organized with a view to achieving stability, noting that “the organization of elections in the absence of security and the continuation of attacks makes no sense”.
In this context, he praised the wisdom shown by the Burkinabe authorities, which constitutes a source of satisfaction for Morocco, noting that the Kingdom once again expresses its full solidarity with Burkina Faso in this stage.
“Working to strengthen State structures and interacting with humanitarian needs demonstrates the existence of a sincere desire to get Burkina Faso out of this difficult situation”, he added, emphasizing in this regard the availability of Morocco to support the development program launched by President Ibrahim Traoré, through support and the exchange of expertise, with the aim of achieving the expected results.
Burkina Faso has shown, in this particular context, remarkable firmness and stability, continued Mr. Bourita, saying he was confident that this country, with its leadership, its capacities, the determination of its people and with the support of his friends, is able to overcome the difficulties he faces during this particular time.
The work of the 4th session of the Joint Morocco-Burkina Faso Cooperation Commission opened in Dakhla, under the co-chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita and his Burkinabè counterpart, Olivia Ragnaghnèwendé Rouamba.
This session was an opportunity to examine new horizons for the consolidation of cooperation relations between Morocco and Burkina Faso and an opportunity to establish fruitful partnerships in many areas, in accordance with the Guidelines of the Heads of State of the two country, King Mohammed VI and President Ibrahim Traoré.
The work of this session, in which took part in particular the Ambassador, Director General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI) and representatives of several departments, was crowned by the signing of 12 agreements covering several areas of bilateral cooperation.