Morocco is a model of stability, speaker of Austrian parliament says

Speaker of the Austrian National Council, Heinz Fischer hailed the stability prevailing in Morocco saying that the Kingdom constitutes a model of stability that should be followed by other countries in the region.

In an exchange of toasts during a dinner banquet hosted in his honor by speaker of the Moroccan house of representatives (lower house of the bi-cameral parliament) on Monday, Fischer said he had been impressed by the Moroccan multi-party system and by the tolerance prevailing in the country.

Fischer, whose country is chairing the European Union, said Austria is for the consolidation of cooperation between the union and the southern Mediterranean countries.

The speaker of the Moroccan house of representatives, Abdelouahed Radi, on his part hailed Austria as being one of the longstanding democracies in Europe and in the World and said during the cold war, Austria played a key role as a meeting point between the East and the west.

He also lauded Austria's stand in the middle east conflict and its backing to the establishment of peace in this part of the world and noted that Austria is aware of the part Europe should play in the Mideast peace process as one of the major European partners.

Radi voiced Morocco's appreciation for the efforts exerted by Austria to promote relations between the Kingdom and the EU as evidenced by the ratification of the Morocco-EU association accord. He also hailed Austria's positive stand in favor of the settlement of the Sahara issue under the aegis of the United Nations.

Radi will visit Austria next February to further talks between the two sides.

Fischer and his accompanying delegation that left Morocco this Tuesday at the end of a four day visit described the outcome of the visit as "satisfactory" and the talks he had with Moroccan officials and parliamentarians as "interesting."

The Austrian delegation that included the speaker of the federal council, Alfred Cerstl, conferred with several members of the cabinet, including ministers of the interior, of economy and finance and of commerce and industry.

The delegation also held meetings with the speaker of the chamber of advisor (upper house) and representatives of parliamentary groups from both the majority and the opposition.

Talks focused on the reforms introduced by the two countries in matters of territorial organization and regionalization.