Eduardo González
The Royal Palace in Rabat hosted yesterday the long-awaited meeting between the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and King Mohamed VI of Morocco, at the end of which the head of the Executive announced the establishment of a “lasting and ambitious roadmap” that includes the reopening of the land border crossings and that will culminate with the holding of the High Level Meeting later this year. Likewise, although the agreement does not include any mention of the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, he assured that Spain’s territorial integrity is “beyond any doubt”.
“This is a historic and necessary moment for the bilateral relations of two neighboring countries, friends, partners,” Sánchez declared at the press conference following his interview with the Alaouite Monarch. “During the audience with the King, we agreed on the need to address a lasting, ambitious and guiding roadmap for the new phase,” because “we want the new stage to be based on solid principles” and that “issues of common interest be dealt with in a spirit of trust, through consultation and without resorting to unilateral acts or faits accomplis.”
Within this framework, he explained, the two leaders agreed to reinforce “migratory cooperation and the normalized reestablishment of the land border posts with Melilla and Ceuta for the passage of goods and people”, for which purpose “a gradual and orderly opening will be carried out and with the due sanitary guarantees”. Likewise, the agreement includes the resumption of the maritime connections with a view to the preparation of the next Strait Crossing operation.
On the other hand, the two governments have committed themselves to recover the working group on migration and to create new ones on economy, infrastructures, education, professional training, culture and sports, with the task of gathering their conclusions at the next High Level Meeting (RAN, by its acronym in Spanish), which “we have agreed will be held before the end of the year”.
The commitments agreed between the two parties do not include any mention of the possibility of Morocco renouncing its territorial claims in Ceuta and Melilla and over the waters of the Canary Islands in return for the Spanish Government’s decision to accept the Moroccan plan for the autonomy of Western Sahara, an about-face in Spanish foreign policy which has led to this new stage in bilateral relations. However, Sánchez assured, “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Spain are beyond any doubt, including Ceuta and Melilla, because it is a commitment of the State and the Government and a constitutional order”. At this moment, he specified, the main objective is “to guarantee the management of the border phenomenon in a concerted manner, in a spirit of good neighborliness and in the absence of unilateral acts”.
The interview with the King
Pedro Sánchez’s historic visit began at around 4:15 p.m., when, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, he landed in a Spanish Air Force plane at Rabat-Salé airport, where he was received by the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch.
Upon his arrival at the Royal Palace, Sánchez and Mohamed VI greeted each other and exchanged a few words of courtesy in Spanish, after which the head of the Executive conveyed to Mohamed VI a greeting from King Felipe VI, congratulated him on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in his country and affirmed that it was “an honor” for him to spend the night at the Guest Palace in Rabat. As reported by the Moroccan Royal House in a press release, Pedro Sánchez reaffirmed during his interview “the position of Spain on the Sahara issue, considering the Moroccan autonomy initiative as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute”.
The Alaouite King was accompanied by his adviser, Fuad Ali Himma; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita; and the Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, who returned to Madrid on March 20 last after being recalled for consultations a year ago in protest against Spain’s decision to welcome the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali. For his part, Sanchez was accompanied in this meeting by Albares and by the Spanish ambassador in Rabat, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner.
At the end of the conversation at the Royal Palace, which lasted about an hour, Mohamed VI invited Pedro Sanchez to join him in the iftar, the dinner with which Muslims break the fast of Ramadan maintained throughout the day, “a gesture of friendship on the part of Mohamed VI, since it is a moment in which family and close people meet”, according to Albares said last Tuesday. The iftar was attended, in addition to the King and Sanchez, by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, Prince Moulay Rachid, Jose Manuel Albares, Aziz Akhannouch, Nasser Bourita and Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner.
The PSOE dissociates itself in Congress
Hours before Sanchez’s trip to Rabat, the plenary of the Congress approved a non-legislative proposal of Unidas Podemos, ERC and Bildu in which, implicitly, the holding of the referendum of self-determination within the framework of the UN is defended. Specifically, the operative part of the motion shows its “support for the UN resolutions and the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), in the conviction that only dialogue, negotiation and agreement carried out in good faith and in a constructive manner, in accordance with international law, will help to achieve a just, realistic, viable, lasting and acceptable by both parties to the political conflict in Western Sahara”.
The text was approved with 168 votes in favor, 61 abstentions (Vox and Ciudadanos) and 118 votes against, all PSOE, although the spokesman of the Socialist Group, Hector Gomez, had pledged on Wednesday to support the motion on the grounds that it was only going to vote the resolution part, whose requests considered compatible with the new turn of the Government on Western Sahara (in the preamble, instead, openly criticizes “a part of the Spanish Government” for “unilaterally” modifying the Spanish policy towards its former colony, “contravening the resolutions of the United Nations and International Law itself and without having consulted or shared it with any of the political groups of the Congress of Deputies”). The argument put forward by the PSOE to change its vote at the last minute was that it had felt “attacked” by the deputy Gerardo Pisarello, of Unidas Podemos (minority partner of the Government), during Wednesday’s debate.
In reference to the motion, the President of the Government yesterday limited himself to expressing his “respect for what has been approved in Congress”. “I reaffirm that this is the best position in the general interest of Spain”, declared Sanchez (before leaving for Rabat) regarding his decision on the Sahara. He also assured that the PSOE has maintained the same position for years in favor of a negotiated solution within the framework of the UN. For her part, the second vice-president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, of Unidas Podemos, described as “incomprehensible, although very respectable”, the “turn that the PSOE has taken” in this vote, and the spokesperson of the Popular Group and general coordinator of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, assured that her group voted in favor because “it responds to the position in which the PP has always been” and, therefore, “it is perfectly acceptable”.
On the other hand, the Official State Gazette (BOE) yesterday published the Agreement between Spain and Morocco on cooperation in security matters and the fight against crime (including terrorism, human trafficking and illegal immigration, signed in Rabat on February 13, 2019 and which will enter into force next April 30.
