The Diplomat
The King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, will not receive in audience the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, despite his presence in Rabat on the occasion of the celebration of the first High Level Meeting (RAN, by its acronym in Spanish) between the two countries in eight years. Finally, everything remained yesterday in a telephone conversation in which the Alaouite monarch invited the head of the Executive to visit the Maghreb country “soon”.
According to Moncloa, Pedro Sánchez and Mohamed VI discussed in the telephone conversation the High Level Meeting and pledged to continue promoting the relationship between the two countries. Likewise, both agreed that the RAN will be “a success” and will contribute to “consolidate the new stage in the relations between Morocco and Spain” and the President of the Government accepted an invitation from Mohamed VI to “pay an official visit to Rabat in the near future”.
For his part, as reported by the Moroccan Royal Cabinet in a press release, during the “warm interview” between Sanchez and the king, Mohamed VI welcomed the evolution of the new bilateral relationship and assured that the commitments contained in the Joint Declaration adopted last April 7 in Rabat “have been substantially implemented”. The King of Morocco also invited the head of the Spanish government to “pay an official visit to Morocco in the near future”. “This visit will be an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations, through concrete actions marked by efficiency and tangible projects in strategic areas of common interest,” the press release concluded.
In this regard, the deputy secretary of institutional action of the PP, Esteban González Pons, yesterday criticized Sánchez for allowing himself to be “ignored” by Mohamed VI and declared, via Twitter, that “there is no greater humiliation than to yield everything to Morocco, to go with half a government to give satisfaction, to portray yourself in the European Parliament, that the king does not receive you and that you are satisfied with him picking up the phone.” Mohamed VI will not attend the summit today because he is traveling abroad.
Business forum
Spain and Morocco are holding today their first RAN since 2015, with which they intend to stage the “honeymoon” that the two countries have been experiencing since the Spanish government’s unexpected about-face last year with its decision to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
Apart from Pedro Sanchez and the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Ajanuch, the RAN in Rabat will be attended by a dozen ministers of the Spanish government and their corresponding Moroccan counterparts. According to government sources, the meeting will be attended by the first and third vice-presidents, Nadia Calviño and Teresa Ribera; and the ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Justice, Pilar Llop; Transport, Raquel Sánchez; Education, Pilar Alegría; Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto; Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas; Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta; Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, and Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá. Those who will not go to Rabat will be the second vice-president and minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz; the minister of Social Rights and leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra; and the head of Consumption and federal coordinator of IU, Alberto Garzón. United Podemos, a minority partner in the coalition government, has repeatedly criticized Pedro Sanchez’s decision to recognize the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
As a prelude to the RAN, a business forum was held yesterday in Rabat, chaired by Pedro Sanchez and Aziz Ajanuch and also attended by the president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj; the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi; the Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto; and the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah. The meeting, which was mainly devoted to cooperation between Spanish and Moroccan companies and the energy transition, was closed by the two heads of government.
During his closing remarks, Pedro Sánchez praised the “intense process of modernization of the Moroccan economy”, highlighted the commercial ties between the two countries and announced that Spain and Morocco are going to promote “a new advanced economic partnership” that “will make it possible to generate wealth and prosperity for families and companies in both countries”. Likewise, he advanced the signing of a new financial protocol that will replace the one of 2008 and will allow the financing of projects in Morocco for 800 million euros, which will be managed through the Fund for the Internationalization of the Company (FIEM), dependent on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
For his part, the Moroccan Prime Minister said that “bilateral relations between the two countries have entered a new phase thanks to the support of his government for the autonomy plan” of Western Sahara and praised, therefore, the “courage” of Pedro Sanchez in this regard. He also assured, in reference to one of the most important issues of the RAN, that Morocco has made “a great effort to stem the flow of refugees within the framework of respect for human rights”. “Relations between Spain and Morocco are solid, based on a positive dynamic,” he said.
For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, gave an interview yesterday to the Moroccan state news agency, MAP, in which he affirmed that “Morocco is a first level partner for the EU” and “a fundamental country for the stability of the Euro-Mediterranean zone that we share between Europe, Africa and the Maghreb”. Therefore, he said, “just as the relationship between Spain and Morocco is mutually beneficial, the relationship between Morocco and the EU is also mutually beneficial”.
