In a joint press release published following talks between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, and the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, both parties expressed their satisfaction with the quality of the distinguished relations between the two countries, reiterating their common desire to continue to strengthen and develop them further.
Welcoming Slovenia’s decision to open a resident embassy in Rabat and Morocco’s intention to initiate a reciprocal approach, the two ministers agreed on the fact that this opening is likely to give a strong boost to the cooperative relations between the two countries.
The two ministers agreed on the importance of giving new impetus to economic cooperation in areas of common interest such as energy, environment, logistics, agriculture, the automobile industry, green technologies and to organize economic forums to encourage interaction between economic actors from the two countries. They also welcomed the interest in strengthening cooperation between the port of Koper and all Moroccan ports, in particular with the port of Tangier-Med.
Regarding parliamentary cooperation, the two sides stressed the importance of interparliamentary consultations, which play an essential role in strengthening bilateral relations, welcoming the official visit made by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia to Morocco in November 2022, at the invitation of the President of the House of Representatives and the signing, during this visit, of a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions.
They also underlined the need to intensify contacts and cooperation between parliamentary friendship groups, in view of the visit that the Speaker of the House of Representatives will make to Ljubljana next December.
On the cultural level, the two ministers highlighted the importance of bilateral cooperation in the cultural and academic field, to promote human and economic development and support exchanges at the intergovernmental and civil society level.
Regarding the migration issue, the two ministers emphasized the excellent relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Kingdom of Morocco in terms of security and migration, highlighting their mutual commitment to further strengthen dialogue and cooperation in this area.
Both parties also expressed their support for a comprehensive approach to migration with a view to promoting safe, legal and orderly migration.
In this context, they expressed their commitment to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against irregular migration, smuggling and trafficking in human beings, and to respond effectively to migratory pressure as a common challenge and shared responsibility.
In this regard, Slovenia expressed its recognition of the efforts made by Morocco during its 2023 presidency of the Rabat Process, in particular by promoting return and sustainable reintegration.
The two ministers also expressed their willingness to consolidate cooperation on safe returns and readmission, including the process of identification and issuance of travel documents and sustainable reintegration.
In this wake, the two parties agreed to establish a regular high-level bilateral dialogue on migration between their competent national authorities, through the establishment of an appropriate consultation and cooperation mechanism for a regular exchange of information, in particular to resolve return cases and optimally improve the readmission process.
The Slovenian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs makes an official visit to Morocco, at the invitation of Mr. Bourita, on the occasion of the celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Slovenia.