In response to a message from Ciudadanos, Pedro Sanchez’s government has returned to several points of contention in recent months with Morocco. Deserts, enclaves, migration pressures, and the demarcation of the maritime domain are discussed.
On Wednesday, February 17th, Pedro Sanchez’s government discussed several bilateral issues with Morocco. In response to the questions of the right-wing “Ciudadanos” party, the government first spoke about the issue of the Sahara in light of the recent developments in this regard since the American recognition.
Thus, Madrid confirms in this message that the recognition by former US President Donald Trump of the Moroccan character of the Sahara “was not a surprise.”
The position of the Iberian state “has not changed,” confirming the speech obtained by Europa Press, stressing that this position is “in defense of a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution as stipulated in the successive resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”
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And the message went on, “Spain considers itself separate from any international responsibility regarding the management of the Sahara since the letter he sent on February 26, 1976 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
Maintaining a “flexible dialogue”
The second point addressed in this letter, the controversy surrounding the new demarcation of Moroccan territorial waters, was approved and published in Official Gazette. In this sense, the government of Pedro Sanchez affirmed that “the request to extend the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Morocco does not affect the territorial waters of Spain around the Canary Islands.”
The letter affirms that the process of demarcating the borders of the Moroccan maritime domain has not yet been completed and that the laws that have been passed are of a general nature. The new demarcation is part of a “flexible dialogue” with Morocco, defining the government, stressing that “the Spanish government reserves all the rights stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to preserve its interests.”
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Two other points of disagreement were addressed with Rabat in the letter. The more evasive government retracted the statements of Prime Minister Saad Eddin El Othmani regarding The Moroccans of Ceuta and Melilla. Government calls the invitation To the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid who asked him to “respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain.”
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In addition, the government has also been informed of the unprecedented immigration pressures afflicting the Canary Islands and the supposed “extortion from Morocco”. The government states that Morocco is a “neighbor, friend and strategic partner”.
The partnership between the two countries in this field “is particularly rich and intense, and the neighboring countries consider it a role model due to its high level of institutionalization, its global approach to the phenomenon of immigration and its efficiency based on the principle of shared responsibility.” The message ends.
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