Upper House Speaker Holds Talks with Chairman of French Senate’s France-Morocco Friendship Group

Speaker of the House of Advisors (upper house), Naama Mayara, on Thursday held talks with the Chairman of the French Senate’s France-Morocco Friend Group, Christian Cambon. The two sides discussed means to strengthen, on all levels, the remarkable cooperation between France and Morocco, expressing their common belief in the paramount importance of parliamentary work in the stimulation and effective support of the historic partnership and cooperation between the two friendly countries, through the activation of the Moroccan-French Friendship Group mechanism in the two countries’ upper houses, in addition to the regular exchange of visits and expertise in the framework of parliamentary work. In this regard, Mayara expressed his deep satisfaction with the level of relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic at the political, economic, cultural and institutional levels. He also stressed the importance of the role of parliamentary groups of friendship and diplomacy in strengthening and developing relations between the two countries, to serve common interests, through cooperation and coordination in various international and regional parliamentary fora. For his part, Cambon praised the exemplary cooperative relations, marked by respect and mutual esteem, between Morocco and France, stressing that his visit to Morocco aims to give a strong impetus to cooperation between the two friendship groups in both houses. Regarding the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, he stressed that his country has always supported the autonomy initiative as a balanced and fair solution to the artificial conflict over the Moroccanness of the southern provinces. In this context, Cambon praised the “recent Moroccan diplomatic success,” in relation to the positive evolution of the Spanish and German positions on the autonomy initiative. Cambon, who also serves as chairman of the French Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee, said that his numerous visits to the southern provinces of the Kingdom have enabled him to learn about the great development efforts made by Morocco in these regions, welcoming, moreover, the central role of the Kingdom in promoting security in the region as a whole, in the face of threats and risks. On the other hand, this meeting was an opportunity for both parties to exchange views and positions on international and regional issues of common interest, within the framework of the constant concern and the common search for settlement of international problems and crises, through the prevalence of logic, wisdom, dialogue and negotiation, in order to preserve stability and international peace.