Foreign Ministry On Morocco-Spain Crisis: The Root Of The Problem Is A Question Of Broken Trust Between Partners

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, in a communiqué, today, that the appearance of Brahim Ghali before the Spanish judiciary is definitely a development that Morocco “takes note of”. But, it does not constitute the core of the serious crisis between the two neighboring countries.

This appearance before the judiciary, the communiqué says, comes to reveal the “true face” of the “Polisario”, embodied in a leader who “who has committed heinous crimes, who violates and jeopardizes human rights and sponsors terrorist acts.”

The “root of the problem”, according to the communiqué, is a question of “broken trust between partners”; the essence of the crisis is a question of ulterior motives hostile to the issue of the Sahara, a “sacred cause for the entire Moroccan people”.

On the other hand, this crisis raises the issue of consistency in positions, adds the communiqué, because “you cannot fight separatism inside and encourage it outside”.

Apart from the case of Ghali, the communiqué continues, as this case revealed Spain’s hostile stances and abusive strategies towards the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, and showed our northern neighbor’s collusion with the kingdom’s opponents in order to undermine the territorial integrity of Morocco.

Given this consistency, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, “Morocco has never played the card of separatism in its international relations, and especially with its neighbors.”

In this regard, Morocco’s policy towards Spain remains clear. During the Catalan crisis, Morocco did not choose to remain neutral. Rather, it was among the first to stand firmly, clearly and strongly, alongside the territorial integrity and national unity of its northern neighbor, adds the communiqué.

In the same context, the communiqué also indicated that Morocco has always expressed its solidarity with Spain, but of course there are natural difficulties associated with neighborliness, including periodic migration crises. However, these “these difficulties should never make us forget that solidarity is to partnership what reliability is to good neighborliness and what trust is to friendship.”

It is this solidarity, the communiqué adds, that Morocco has always shown towards Spain, and recent history is our witness.

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry wondered how, after all of this, it is possible to talk seriously about threats and blackmail when the statement of His Majesty’s Ambassador is invoked in Spain? “Honesty has never been a threat, and defending positions cannot be equated with blackmail”.

The communiqué concludes by reminding us that “Morocco will remain attached to its natural and genuine bonds of friendship with the Spanish people.”