Morocco already places the summit with Spain at the beginning of 2023 but recognizes its importance for the relationship

Burita assures that "all the commitments" of the April 7 declaration will be fulfilled

MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Moroccan Foreign Minister, Naser Burita, has indicated that the summit with Spain will be held at the beginning of 2023 and not before the end of the year as expected, although he has recognized the importance of holding it in the new stage that bilateral relations are now experiencing.

In the joint declaration signed after the meeting on April 7 in Rabat between the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and King Mohamed VI, both executives promised that the High-Level Meeting should "be held before the end of this year ".

At the end of September, after the meeting with Burita, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said that both governments maintained their intention that the summit be held before the end of 2022 and even, if possible, during the month of november.

This same Tuesday, the Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has also indicated that the RAN is being prepared "at the end of the year", but from Rabat, Burita has indicated that the meeting will take place at the beginning of next year.

The summit was scheduled for December 2020 but was initially postponed due to the pandemic and the diplomatic crisis as a result of the reception in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, and due to the position regarding the Sahara, it was postponed sine die. Spain and Morocco have not held a RAN since 2015.

At a press conference with the vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, visiting Rabat, Burita said that the summit will be "an important moment in our bilateral relations" in the new phase initiated as a result of Sánchez's letter in the which expressed support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara as "the most solid basis" for resolving the conflict.

"It will be an important moment that will reflect this positive state of mind, this state of mind oriented towards respect for the commitments that animate the Moroccan-Spanish relationship today," he added, according to the official MAP agency.

Burita recalled that the joint declaration "specifies the principles that define this new stage and contributes to defining the priorities and making explicit the positions on the issues of interest to both countries", establishing a roadmap.

"All the working groups have been activated, with many elements underway, and all the commitments contained in the roadmap will be fulfilled," stressed the Moroccan minister, who has anticipated that there will also be "enough time to prepare the parliamentary forum , the business forum and the mobilization of all the actors in this relationship".

With his words, Burita has come to reaffirm Rabat's commitment to one of the key points for the Spanish Government, the reopening of the Melilla customs office, unilaterally closed by Morocco in 2018, and the opening of a new one in Ceuta, where no existed. Albares announced in September that the intention is for this to happen "throughout the month of January."