The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, affirmed that the Sahara is the main indicator determining the depth and credibility of friendships with Morocco, while being a decisive factor for the development of partnerships.
In the context of a presentation before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, on the occasion of the presentation of the ministry’s sub-budget for 2023, the head of Moroccan diplomacy noted the continuous decline in recognition of the Polisario militia in since 2020, specifying in this regard that 84% of United Nations member states do not recognize the self-proclaimed and “fictional” republic SADR.
During 2022, Nasser Bourita continued, three new countries have opened consulates in the southern regions of the Kingdom, Suriname, Togo and Cape Verde, in addition to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which has opened a consulate in Dakhla.
Besides these countries, he said, no less than three others have announced their intention to open diplomatic representations in the coming months. These are Chad, Somalia and Guatemala, noted the Minister.
In addition, Morocco renewed its permanent commitment to resume the political process of the round tables with the 4 parties, under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations, with a view to reaching a political solution based solely and solely on the Moroccan initiative of autonomy, within the framework of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom, Bourita indicated, referring to the talks that took place with the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Staffan de Mistura, since the beginning of his mission.
“In a changing international context, the Moroccan Sahara remains the compass that determines the direction and traces the path”, declared the minister before the commission, indicating that the first of these decisive turning points is contained in the speech of King Mohammed VI to the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, on August 20.
It was in this speech that the Sovereign had affirmed that the Moroccan Sahara is the prism through which, and through which Morocco sees the world, recalled the minister, considering that this clear and simple criterion measures the sincerity of friendships and the effectiveness of partnerships.
In the same vein, Nasser Bourita, argued that King Mohammed VI has established a precise approach in the management of the various issues of the Kingdom’s foreign policy, based on the question of the Moroccan Sahara, noting that he acts from a pragmatic and realistic approach that is far from the logic and narratives of the cold war.
The minister thus reiterated the principle that today Morocco takes Sahara as a reference to distinguish gray and ambiguous positions from sincerity and seriousness. “It’s our way of determining the depth and credibility of friendships. This is the decisive factor in the enhancement and development of partnerships,” he said.