Certain MEPs Use European Parliament as Platform to Attack Morocco, Says Haddad

Morocco is facing a number of MEPs who are using the European Parliament (EP) as a platform to attack the Kingdom in an organized manner and with great resources, said Lahcen Haddad, chairman of the Moroccan-European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Committee, on Wednesday in Rabat. Speaking at a debate on EP’s hostile, blatant and recurrent attacks on the Kingdom, Haddad said that the Kingdom’s problem is not with the European Union or its various institutions, but rather with MEPs known for their hostility towards Morocco. According to him, these MEPs have taken advantage of the corruption crisis shaking the EP to create a climate of fear within the European legislative institution, pushing it to undermine Morocco’s image and reputation in the media and to adopt resolutions hostile to the Kingdom. Haddad noted that 112 anti-Morocco issues and 18 attempted amendments were raised in the EP in 2022, claiming the existence of a “systematic war” against the Kingdom. For his part, Authenticity and Modernity Group President Ahmed Touizi said that the European Parliament has become “a platform to attack and provoke Morocco,” noting that there is a joint Morocco-EU committee that MEPs have chosen to ignore and freeze in order to directly attack the Kingdom. Touizi stressed that some MEPs do not want to defend human rights but “to attack the territorial integrity of the Kingdom,” explaining this hostility by the geostrategic position that Morocco now occupies on the continent thanks to the enlightened vision of HM King Mohammed VI. He added that the European Parliament, which is trying to “blackmail” Morocco, cannot afford to ignore the great progress made by the Kingdom in the field of human rights, knowing that the Moroccan Parliament has adopted laws to protect freedoms and human rights. This meeting, organized by the two Houses of Parliament, examines the basis of the methodical attacks and false aggressions transmitted by the EP against the Kingdom in a systematic and presumptuous manner. It brings together MPs, representatives of civil society, experts and lawyers to discuss the instrumentalization of the human rights issue, the attacks on the Kingdom’s territorial integrity and the exploitation of the Pegasus case. The Moroccan Parliament announced on January 23, in a joint statement issued by its two chambers, its decision to reconsider its relations with the European Parliament by subjecting them to a global reassessment in order to take firm and appropriate decisions in light of the European Parliament’s recent positions on Morocco. In this regard, the Parliament decided to set up an ad-hoc committee on the subject, composed of representatives of its two Houses, dedicated to the re-evaluation of relations with the EP.