Editor TLN
The German Foreign Minister, annalena baerbockreiterated this Thursday in Rabat his country’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, which he described as “a good basis” for reach a solution to the conflict.
Baerbock expressed himself in this way at a joint press conference with his counterpart, Naser Burita, at the first visit he made to Morocco five months after the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries that ended a serious bilateral crisis that lasted almost a year.
The German minister said she was aware of the “great and important” role of the Sahara issue for Morocco, while insisting on the position of the UN as the “best framework” and “with the greatest possibility” of success to reach a solution ” fair, lasting and consensual” for the conflict.
[Borrell dispara la alarma en Rabat y la esperanza en el Sáhara alegando que España apoya la “consulta”]
Baerbock welcomed the appointment of the personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, Staffan de Mistura, and reaffirmed the your country’s “full support” for your efforts to reach a settlement of this conflict.
For his part, Burita indicated that Baerbock’s visit is a “strong signal” of the firmness of bilateral relations that “had a new push” since its reestablishment. And at the same time, he welcomed Berlin’s position on the Sahara conflict.
The Moroccan minister qualified Germany’s position in its support for the Moroccan proposal for “balanced and consistent” with the position of both the European Union and the resolutions of the Security Council.
“The Moroccan autonomy plan appears in the same UN resolutions and is consistent with international legality and the new international dynamics,” he said.
[Argelia tiende la mano a Francia mientras sigue dando la espalda a España]
The Moroccan minister insisted that “when European and non-European countries support this plan, this does not contradict UN resolutions.”
On the other hand, the minister praised the Moroccan efforts in the fight against irregular emigrationdeplored the latest tragedy of the massive Melilla jump attempt on June 24, in which 23 people died, and underlined the need to consolidate cooperation with Rabat in this regard.
In addition, both ministers agreed strengthen their relations in different areas, specifically in the energy field with the development of green hydrogen projects and in the fight against climate change.
Morocco had had an open crisis with Germany since May 2021, when it summoned its ambassador to Berlin in response to “hostile acts”, attributing to the German authorities questioning Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
In March 2021, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry sent a letter addressed to all members of the Moroccan Government in which ordered the suspension of any contact or relationship with the German Embassy in Rabatthen mentioning “deep misunderstandings”.
The German authorities began since last December to send signals to improve the state of their ties with Morocco. And a note then from German diplomacy about “the important contribution” of Morocco in the process of resolving the Sahara conflict then favored rapprochement between the two countries.
King Mohamed VI referred last Saturday in a speech to Germany’s “constructive stance” regarding the Sahara conflict, along with other countries such as Spain and the Netherlands.
