Brussels, 08/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Morocco's permanent representative to the EU has implied that the visit of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to Rabat was “needed” in order to dissipate the misunderstanding that has grown since the ruling of the EU General Court on 10 December 2015, which implicitly contested Moroccan sovereignty of the Western Sahara (see EUROPE 11506).
In an interview published on Monday in weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Alem Menouar considers that Mogherini's visit “was needed” following a “dip in our relationship with the EU”. He added: “We had regular contact, then questions went unanswered and requests for meetings came to nothing. This led irremediably to a loss of trust and in the end to the decision to suspend contact with the EU (…) until we had clarification”.
Menouar states: “We obtained the explanations we wanted. We even went further as we discussed new mechanisms for exchange. The first step in this will be the visit of Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita to Brussels before the end of the month. We will also strengthen all means of coordination between Rabat and Brussels during the period of appealing the decision of the EU General Court”. Morocco “is preparing its arguments” to oppose the ruling, and is backed by France and Spain, as well as the EU's appeal. “We did not address the next steps of the appeal with Mrs Mogherini. We will first wait to see if the European Court of Justice accepts the request for simplified procedure that the Council lodged”, Menouar stated. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)