EU Can ‘Count on Morocco to Strengthen Long-Standing Relations, Address Challenges Together’ – Kaja Kallas

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas affirmed that the EU can “rely on Morocco to strengthen our long-standing relations and address challenges together.” “I know we can count on Morocco to reinforce our long-standing relations and tackle challenges together,” stated Kallas following a phone conversation on Monday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita. Their discussion focused on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. In a post on the social media platform X, published after the phone call, Kallas described her exchanges with Bourita on the Middle East situation as “useful,” reflecting the significant role played by Morocco under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, President of the Al-Quds Committee, on the Middle East issue. This phone call marks Kallas’s first discussion with an official from the Maghreb and Africa region since she assumed her new role in early December. Last October, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and former EU High Representative Josep Borrell reaffirmed, in a Joint Declaration, the EU’s commitment to preserving and strengthening its close relations with Morocco across all sectors. “In close cooperation with Morocco, the EU is firmly committed to preserving and continuing to strengthen its close relations with the Kingdom in all areas of the Morocco-EU partnership,” stated the Joint Declaration, which represents the EU’s highest political act and underscores the importance of Morocco and the significance of the EU’s partnership with the Kingdom. Similarly, in November, following talks in Rabat with Bourita, the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy, Oliver Varhelyi, described Morocco as “a consistently reliable, available, and serious partner, considered in Europe as a pillar of stability and prosperity in terms of regional security.”