The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita, underlined, on Tuesday in Rabat, the dynamism of the Moroccan Sahara issue, for which “the solution can only be conceived in the framework of the United Nations and on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy plan”.
Bourita, who was speaking at a press conference following his talks with the Austrian Federal Deputy Minister for European and International Affairs, Peter Launsky, recalled, in this context, the positive positions expressed in particular by the Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary, Slovakia and Cyprus, in favor of the Moroccan autonomy plan, as the basis for a serious and credible solution, specifying that other countries will follow in the future.
The minister also mentioned the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara and the opening of consulates in the southern provinces, which constitute “a message” addressed to the countries concerned by their proximity to the conflict, in particular the Europeans .
After all these positive positions, Austria has just expressed this Tuesday its position on the question of the Moroccan Sahara, which sees in the autonomy plan a basis for a serious and credible solution.
Mr. Bourita, who had called more than a year ago for Europe to “get out of its comfort zone” in order to reach a solution to the artificial conflict around the Moroccan Sahara, underlined the imperative to find a solution to this conflict and not just support a process, which can drag on because of the lack of will on the part of the other parties.
Launsky is part of his country’s delegation, led by Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, which is visiting Morocco. A very important visit which constitutes a qualitative leap in relations between Morocco and Austria, said Mr. Bourita.
This visit, he said, reflects the vision of King Mohammed VI in favor of the diversification of the Kingdom’s partnerships within Europe and its openness to other European countries which are not geographically close.
Historical and rooted, Moroccan-Austrian relations are based on a global approach and a dense strategic and sectoral dialogue in the economic and social field, insisted Bourita, also citing, in this context, the cooperation between Morocco and the Austria in the cultural and parliamentary fields.