Morocco is the number one priority of Spain’s foreign policy, said the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, in the wake of the High Level Meeting (RHN ) between Morocco and Spain which took place in Rabat on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Spanish Foreign Minister stressed in an interview Thursday evening on Spanish public television (TVE) that Morocco is a strategic partner of Spain and that it is fundamental for bilateral relations.
“Morocco is fundamental for Spain, and Spain for Morocco”, he declared, underlining the “success” of the HLM which had not been held for 8 years.
On this subject, he revealed that it was the meeting “which had the most concrete results” in the history of the two countries, with a record number of signed agreements, about twenty in total, after “many months of common work”.
During this 12th session of the Morocco-Spain High Level Meeting, a Joint Declaration was adopted by the two countries, in which they undertake to perpetuate the excellent relations that have always linked them and reaffirm their desire to continuously enrich.
Albares recalled that the two partners are bound by a roadmap signed last April which puts in place a new dynamic and a new desire to join forces and efforts for a renewed relationship based on mutual respect, which is ” mutually beneficial” in sectors of common interest such as the economy, migration management and also education and culture.
In his speech, the Spanish Minister indicated that Spanish exports to Morocco exceeded the 10 billion euro mark and the overall volume of bilateral trade reached 20 billion euro, an unprecedented event in the economic relations between the two countries.
In addition, he continued, Morocco’s collaboration in the management of irregular migratory flows allowed a 69% reduction in arrivals on the Spanish coasts last January compared to January 2022, specifying that bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism has materialized in recent months with the dismantling of six jihadist cells.