Morocco, Spain “Completely Satisfied” with Implementation of Bilateral Roadmap – FM –

Morocco and Spain are “completely satisfied” with the implementation of the bilateral roadmap, set up last April, on the occasion of the visit to Morocco of the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, at the invitation of HM King Mohammed VI, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita. “Today, we discussed the implementation of the bilateral roadmap … and we expressed our complete satisfaction with the implementation of all its provisions and all commitments,” said Bourita, at a press briefing, following a working meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares. In the same vein, Bourita said that this new meeting, the third in less than a week, reflects “the very close coordination and strong relationship that our two countries share.3 This meeting, held on the sidelines of the 7th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), was also an opportunity to review the progress made in the implementation of this roadmap and examine ways to accelerate its implementation, he added. “We are in a new phase of our relationship and we are very pleased to continue to work in all sectors: economic cooperation, political dialogue, fight against illegal immigration, terrorism, regional security, as well as ways to develop the cultural dimension and security cooperation,” said the Minister. In this context, he noted that the next High Level Meeting “will provide an opportunity to see that we have implemented all the elements of the roadmap, but also to agree on new and more ambitious elements of our bilateral relationship.” Referring to bilateral cooperation on migration, Bourita stressed that the two countries have “set an example of fruitful cooperation” in the fight against illegal migration. “Our cooperation is the only success story of cooperation in the fight against illegal migration in the Mediterranean region,” said the minister, assuring that Rabat and Madrid conduct this cooperation “as two responsible countries, taking into account a firm approach to migration, by developing legal migration, protecting migrants and fighting against networks of smugglers.” According to the Minister, “this cooperation has brought much to the security of Morocco and Spain, but also to the whole region,” adding that “this model must be strengthened and promoted”. “At the global level, there is a consensus that what Morocco and Spain are doing, in a cooperative and constructive way, is an example to follow,” said Bourita.