The Diplomat
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will travel to Morocco this autumn after accepting the invitation extended to him yesterday in person by the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Ajanuch, during their meeting in Rotterdam, within the framework of the Congress of the European People’s Party (EPP).
During the meeting, which ended on Monday, Feijóo told him of his intention to maintain a “neighbourly and loyal” relationship with Morocco, as well as his desire to carry out a “reliable” foreign policy, in which any agreement is carried out with “transparency” and “seeks parliamentary consensus”, according to sources from his team, quoted by Europa Press.
“We are going to carry out a serious and rigorous foreign policy, with transparent and lasting agreements”, Feijóo himself assured on Twitter at the end of the meeting with Ajanuch, with whom he opened his bilateral agenda in Rotterdam, given that his party, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), is an associate member of the European People’s Party.
Sources close to Feijóo pointed out that during that interview the Prime Minister of Morocco asked him on up to three occasions to travel to his country, an invitation that the leader of the PP accepted and which he is willing to carry out this autumn with the aim of “strengthening neighbourly ties between the two countries with loyalty and sincerity”.
In his first international trip since he was elected leader of the PP in April, Feijóo took advantage of the EPP meeting to hold more than a dozen meetings with European leaders – such as the President of the European Commission, Urusula von der Leyen – and leaders such as the Moroccan Prime Minister, who is attending the conclave in the Dutch city as a guest.
This meeting between Feijóo and Ajanuch comes two months after the change of position on Western Sahara by Pedro Sánchez’s government was applauded by the Alawite country. In fact, last March, the Moroccan prime minister welcomed Spain’s support for the autonomy plan for Western Sahara and praised King Mohamed VI’s “shrewd diplomatic management”.
In statements to the media prior to the meeting, Feijóo had already announced that he would convey to the Moroccan Prime Minister at this ‘important bilateral meeting’ his desire to maintain a ‘reliable policy’ and ‘rebuild a foreign policy based on trust’.
According to Feijóo, the PP’s intention is to “strengthen” commitments and ties of neighbourliness, reciprocity, honesty and loyalty between Morocco and Spain. In this sense, he opted for a “reliable policy” with Morocco.
“Firstly, we are not going to deceive them. Secondly, we will never be disloyal to that country. And thirdly, we are going to try to rebuild a foreign policy based on trust and parliamentary consensus in Spain”, he added.
Feijóo assured that the Moroccan prime minister is “a good friend of Spain who is very interested in knowing the position” of the PP. Party sources also pointed out that the Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, has also shown interest in meeting with the PP leader and both have agreed to meet after the Andalusian elections on 19 June.
