Morocco Calls for a Fair, United, and Operational Africa-Europe Partnership

Addis Ababa – Morocco called on Wednesday in Addis Ababa for a fair, united, and operational Africa-Europe partnership.

During the meeting of senior officials from the African Union and the European Union (AU-EU), Ambassador Mohamed Arrouchi, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the African Union and the ECA, emphasized Morocco’s conviction that a more balanced and ambitious Africa-Europe relationship will serve the prosperity of both continents. He expressed the Kingdom’s determination to contribute to this relationship in a spirit of responsibility, solidarity, and trust.

In this regard, he reiterated the Royal Vision for the Africa-European Union Partnership, which considers Africa and Europe as two neighboring continents, linked by history, geography, and a shared destiny. He specified that Morocco naturally engages with Africa, to which it belongs, and with Europe, its neighboring partner.

This dual membership gives the Kingdom a particular vocation: to contribute to bringing the two continents closer together, the diplomat added, noting that this vision calls for building an equitable, supportive, and mutually beneficial partnership, based on a relationship of equals and respect for the sovereignty, choices, and specificities of each.

This partnership must recognize Africa’s capacity to define its priorities and lead its own development, and it must translate into concrete commitments and structuring projects, he continued.

The ambassador further emphasized that peace and security constitute an essential pillar of this cooperation, noting that conflict prevention, the fight against terrorism and criminal networks, as well as support for African peace efforts, must be accompanied by investments in development, employment, education, and the strengthening of robust institutions.

Sustainable stability depends both on appropriate responses to security challenges and on creating opportunities and renewed confidence, he emphasized.

Addressing migration and mobility issues, he reiterated the importance of a comprehensive, humane, and balanced approach, asserting that the fight against trafficking networks must go hand in hand with expanding regular pathways for mobility, particularly for students, researchers, skilled workers, and entrepreneurs.

In this regard, he noted that the Royal Vision calls for moving beyond a purely security-focused view of migration and recognizing the opportunities it offers to both host societies and countries of origin.

According to Mr. Arrouchi, the Africa-Europe partnership will gain momentum by bringing the populations of both partners closer together in a tangible way, through training, cultural exchanges, and investments in infrastructure, connectivity, renewable energy, and African economic integration.

Peace and security, prosperity, mobility, and multilateral cooperation are also central to recent discussions between Africa and the European Union, he noted.

In this regard, the Kingdom calls on its European partners to support their African partners in accelerating the identification of concrete projects based on the link between peace, security, and development, in accordance with the provisions of the Tangier Declaration on the Peace, Security, and Development Nexus, Mr. Arrouchi emphasized, adding that the African Union Peace Fund could contribute to the identification and implementation of such projects.