2024-07-24 02:48:09
The head of Spanish diplomacy drew up a “very positive assessment” of the Roadmap adopted by the two countries in April 2022 on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Spanish Government, Mr. Pedro Sanchez, to Morocco, at the invitation of HM King Mohammed VI.
1/ You have chosen Morocco for your first trip abroad, in a bilateral framework, since the beginning of this new legislature. What is the importance of this visit and what is its main objective?
This is indeed my first official bilateral trip of this new stage of the Spanish government. It is a great pleasure to go to Morocco. We are going to relaunch the agenda or roadmap that we have built and which is multidimensional. We are an example in the areas of the fight against human trafficking mafias and the fight against terrorism.
Our trade has literally taken off. But the most important thing is that we have strengthened political and human relations more than ever in previous years. For me, these are the foundations on which we are building this strategic partnership relationship today.
2/ Almost 18 months after the Joint Declaration of April 2022, what assessment do you draw from this new roadmap and what results have been obtained?
The results of the roadmap are obviously very positive. We have strengthened the strategic partnership. The friendly relations between our two countries have reached a historic level, which is reflected in several areas.
In economic terms, trade between the two countries has reached 20 billion euros. Spain is Morocco’s leading customer and supplier, while the Kingdom is Spain’s third largest trading partner outside the EU, surpassed only by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Trade has increased by 40% compared to the period before the adoption of the roadmap in April 2022 and the figures for this year that is coming to an end will be even greater.
The second part concerns security and judicial cooperation to combat mafias active in human trafficking and terrorism, which constitutes an example for the whole world and which has also been consolidated by this new roadmap.
Thirdly, the human ties between the two countries have been strengthened. We must not forget that more than a million Moroccans live in perfect integration in our country and contribute to the prosperity of Spain. There are also more than 20,000 Spanish citizens who are well established in Morocco. These citizens, on both sides, are the true ambassadors of Morocco in Spain and of Spain in Morocco.
3/ Based on the results you mentioned before, do you think that the partnership between Morocco and Spain has reached the level of a multidimensional partnership?
Absolutely. The strategic partnership between the two countries is now a multidimensional partnership, because it encompasses all areas.
This partnership is reflected above all in the trust we have in each other as strategic partners with very high-level political relations and human relations that are increasingly being woven. These fundamentals have made relations between Morocco and Spain one of the densest and richest that can exist in the world.
Morocco is the first priority of Spanish foreign policy. With Morocco, we truly have a partnership of choice, a win-win partnership. All the measures we undertake together are beneficial for both countries.
4/ Do you think that the organization of the 2030 World Cup by Morocco, Spain and Portugal will further support this partnership?
The co-organization of the 2030 World Cup by Morocco, Spain and our Portuguese friends will surely be one of the keystones of the roadmap launched almost two years ago. The whole world, which follows football, will see closely the Spanish-Moroccan friendship, the partnership between our two countries, but also the partnership between Europe and Africa given that Morocco is the gateway to the African continent and Spain is the gateway to Europe.
For the first time, the world will follow a World Cup organized on two continents. Through this event, the two countries will demonstrate their joint organizational capacity and celebrate the values of sport, namely, competitiveness and effort but also diversity and plurality.
2024-07-24 02:48:09