Burkina Faso Has ‘High Expectations’ of Royal Atlantic Initiative

Burkina Faso has “high expectations” of the Atlantic Initiative launched by HM King Mohammed VI to promote access to the Atlantic Ocean for Sahelian states, said, on Friday in Rabat, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré. “A country like Burkina Faso cannot remain indifferent to an initiative that will enable us to overcome the challenges linked to our continental nature,” said Jean-Marie Traoré at a press briefing following talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita. In this sense, he reiterated Burkina Faso’s full support for this initiative “which we back and positively appreciate as a country bearing the weight of continentality”. “Our teams have done an excellent job in defining the contours of this initiative and making it operational”, he stressed. The head of Burkina Faso’s diplomacy also pointed out that Ouagadougou and Rabat share a common heritage “which we are all responsible for maintaining”, noting that this heritage manifests itself “in our bilateral relations and in our good relations within multilateral arenas”. In this respect, he reiterated his country’s gratitude to Morocco for its constant support for Burkina Faso, adding that “we are sensitive to the attention that Morocco pays to Burkina Faso and to all the initiatives put in place under the impetus of HM the King”.