Nourdine Mouati: “España debería hacer un gesto para recuperar esa confianza perdida con Marruecos, es una relación estratégica”
Morocco closes a year with a foreign policy of major diplomatic agreements reached and several political events that open the door to future resolutions. The Spanish-Moroccan crisis over the reception of the Polisario Front leader, the new German government's guidelines on the Sahara issue and the current situation in the Maghreb are some of the highlights of this year in politics in part of the Mediterranean. Cooperation expert Nourdine Mouati analyses all these issues.
Would you describe this year as crucial for Moroccan diplomacy and its work to achieve recognition of sovereignty under the Sahara?
Answer: Yes, it has been a very important year. With the tweet of the former US president, Trump, who recognised that Morocco was the first country to recognise the United States in 1777, and it was appropriate for the United States to recognise the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over the Moroccan Western Sahara, over its southern provinces.
It has been a very important year because even with the arrival of Joe Biden on 20 January 2021 in the White House, this recognition has been maintained. Although the US consulate in Dakhla has not yet opened, the US continues to fund major projects in southern Morocco. A digital platform to promote US investment in southern Morocco, Laayoune and Dakhla, funded by the State Department, was recently launched.
It has been a year in which Morocco has established itself as a regional power and a guarantor of stability in North Africa. The new German government sees it this way, and both the foreign minister and the new German chancellor recognise that the only solution to the artificial conflict in Western Sahara is the Moroccan proposal - a serious autonomy proposal for its southern provinces.
Thus, yesterday, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita made a statement certifying the return to normal relations between Germany and the Kingdom of Morocco. Let us hope that the coming year will also be the year of normalisation of relations at the institutional level between Spain and Morocco. On the commercial and economic level, we know that relations between the two countries are going very well. There are important Spanish companies that have won large contracts in Morocco.
The level of security cooperation between the two countries continues. Both Spanish and Moroccan security forces and bodies collaborate, exchange information and participate jointly in the arrest of terrorists and in the prevention of various attacks. I believe that in 2022 the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez should make a gesture, as the German government has done, because the one who broke the trust was the Spanish government, welcoming in May 2021, a leader of an organisation that for Morocco is a terrorist organisation. For Spain it is also a terrorist organisation because it participated in the assassination of several Spanish compatriots.
Morocco has been very clear throughout the recent historical period of relations between the two countries and has never welcomed Basque or Catalan separatists, being very respectful of Spain's sovereignty. We have historically different points of view regarding certain territories, but they can be resolved through institutional dialogue. Spain should make a gesture to regain that trust with Morocco because the relationship between the two countries is strategic in terms of security and also because between the two of us we can be guarantors of stability in this very hot area of the globe.
We believe that the two governments are negotiating, according to reports, above all to clarify the situation of Ceuta and Melilla, the territorial waters in the Canary Islands, and it is an opportunity to establish, as Mohammed VI said, an unprecedented stage in relations, but based on solid criteria, and that problems such as the closure of the border with Melilla can be excluded, right?
A: Morocco has always respected international law. These are agreements that are going to be reached at the level of offices. Dialogue is the way to develop strategic relations between the two countries. We need each other and I insist that the strategic alliance between Spain and Morocco is important for both countries.
Germany has understood this and this country is immersed in major projects with Morocco, which is why the new social democratic government has reflected this in its latest communiqué, because it knows that Morocco is a strategic country and a serious partner. Given the situation in North Africa and the Mediterranean, I believe that Morocco is a reference point, and Spain should be a preferential strategic partner, as it is in the economic sphere.
One of the situations that Europe has to face with special attention are the terrorist groups that are acting in the Sahel and that are trying to destabilise a key area: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, right?
A: Yes, the situation in Algeria, with growing internal opposition, with very serious economic problems, including the latest energy crisis or gas supply crisis, which must be interpreted internally: Algeria can no longer export more gas because it is using gas to produce electricity so as not to have to increase prices for its population, and so that there is more tension.
Regarding the situation in Tunisia, we are returning to the old days when all power was concentrated in the figure of the president, and the situation in Libya is also equally unstable, as it is divided into three regions that will be difficult to pacify or reach agreements.
That is why Spain should further strengthen its ties with Morocco and seek a solution to this crisis, which, I insist, was a mistake by the Spanish government in welcoming the leader of a terrorist organisation. Whereas Morocco, throughout its history, has not hosted any separatist leader from the Basque Country, as Algeria did by hosting ETA, or the leaders of Catalan independence. Morocco has been serious and hopes that Spain will also understand this and that this climate of trust will be restored, hopefully soon.
After the elections in Morocco, is the kingdom embarking on a new phase, especially with the intention of solving its biggest problem, which is inequality, by changing its production model to try to better distribute wealth among all?
A: Yes, it has also been one of the indications of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. In his throne speech, the king insisted on the creation of the new welfare state that the new government is putting in place: social and health coverage for all layers of Moroccan society and ensuring decent employment. This is the main objective of the new government. There is a pre-established timetable for these social achievements to bring Morocco in line with European countries.