Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group: Morocco, An Indispensable Partner For Europe And France

President of the France-Morocco Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group at the National Assembly and Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Mustapha Laabid, stressed that Morocco represents for Europe and France an “indispensable” partner in issues related to migration and countering terrorism.

With regard to migration, Laabid “welcomed” His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s commitment through Morocco’s recent decision to resolve the issue of unaccompanied Moroccan minors in some European countries.

In a statement to MAP, Laabid highlighted the “good” cooperation between French and Moroccan authorities in this matter, as reflected in the experience of a mutual aid program established in 2018.

The MP also stated that Morocco sent a multidisciplinary team, consisting of Moroccan police officers, a non-governmental organization and social workers, to “listen to unaccompanied Moroccan minors and collect information that allows investigations to be launched with the aim of identifying them and returning them to Morocco.”

“This experience has proven to be fruitful and I am sure that these efforts will continue”, said Laabid.

As for the recent tensions between Morocco and Spain, the President of the France-Morocco Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group called in the National Assembly to settle these “recent disputes” between the two kingdoms “in order to create conditions for the most constructive cooperation in the field of migration”.

In this regard, Laabid expressed his hope that these bilateral tensions will be resolved as soon as possible, so that the European Union and Morocco can continue their basic cooperation in a peaceful manner, as the Kingdom “represents to Europe and France an indispensable partner in terms of migration policy and countering terrorism”.