Morocco's King calls for better understanding between Moroccan and Spanish peoples
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 1/18/2005

King Mohammed VI has called for a better understanding between the peoples of Morocco and neighboring Spain, in an exchange of toasts with visiting King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain who started on Monday a three-day state visit to the kingdom.

"To promote better understanding between our two peoples, their perception of each other needs to be improved, and prejudices and harmful misrepresentations need to be stamped out," the monarch said.

Relations between the two countries were strained during the former Spanish conservative Government of Jose Maria Aznar, but returned back to normal after the Socialist government of Prime Minister Zapatero came to power in March 2004.

King Mohammed VI who described as a "special moment" the presence of the Spanish monarch in Morocco, said how highly he and the Moroccan people regard

the Kingdom of Spain, and "how fond we are of our friend and neighbour, to whom we are closely bound by so many historical, human and cultural ties."

After recalling the "exceptional relations" between Juan Carlos and the late King Hassan II, King Mohammed VI said both countries "have managed to maintain constructive dialogue and mutual trust between them, despite the ups and downs of politics."

"Building on this dynamic interaction, Spain and Morocco have made considerable headway in developing the broadest possible partnership since signing the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation in 1991" the King said, noting that bilateral cooperation "has produced such positive results which confirm Spain's special status as one of Morocco's main economic partners."

"Our partnership should be commensurate with the role Morocco and Spain should play in the Euro-Mediterranean region, given their position as a focal point for trade and interaction." He went on.

As far as economic cooperation is concerned, King Mohammed VI hailed Spain's commitment to increase its financial contribution as part of the cooperation for development program.

"Given the exemplary Spanish experience in our northern provinces, which are rightly considered a top priority area, I hope this type of cooperation will be extended to other regions in the Kingdom" he said in an allusion to Spanish investments in Northern morocco.

The monarch said he was "pleased" to note the progress made in the two countries' cooperation to fight illegal immigration, noting that both countries are determined to "manage migration flows."

Spain and Morocco have stepped up efforts to prevent and control the flow of would-be emigrants in particular from Sub-Saharan Africa who us the North African country as a platform to reach Europe via Spain.

King Mohammed VI also touched on terrorism saying both countries are "working closely together and initiating combined efforts, as part of the international struggle against the scourge of terrorism, or through the deployment of a joint battalion in Haiti, under the aegis of the United Nations."

Concerning the Maghreb, the monarch said Morocco has "worked relentlessly" to make of the North African region a "centre of stability and an influential partner of the European Union." He underlined in this respect Morocco's efforts to "remove the obstacle delaying the achievement of this major objective," in an allusion to the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), an ambitious regional economic grouping mustering Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. He said Morocco has "consistently shown great willingness to cooperate with the United Nations in order to find a political solution to the artificial dispute imposed on my country" in reference to the Sahara dispute opposing Morocco to the Algeria-backed separatist movement "Polisario." The latter is seeking the separation from Morocco of the Southern provinces, known as the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco under the 1975 Madrid Accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.

King Mohammed VI insisted that the settlement of this dispute "should be a negotiated, final and mutually acceptable solution, which is likely to enable the populations of the southern provinces to manage their regional affairs by themselves, and which respects Morocco's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity."

On the Middle east, the monarch said he appreciates the effort being made, "along the same lines, by the Kingdom of Spain, which has always maintained fruitful, friendly relations with the Arab world."

Previous Stories:
  King wishes Spain help Morocco by adopting a policy of positive neutrality on the Sahara issue   (1/17/2005)
  Illegal migrants number reaching Spain dropped in 2004   (1/8/2005)
  Spanish FM : difficult to conciliate stances of parties to Sahara issue   (1/6/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search