Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Friday that the resumption of relations with Morocco will take as long as it takes and that he has no plans to go to Rabat soon.
José Manuel Albares assured Friday that he is working to restore a “solid relationship” with Morocco, based on “mutual trust and respect”. This objective “will take the time it takes”, he underlined, specifying that for the moment, a visit to Rabat is not on his agenda. For these reasons, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs believes that the end of the crisis with Morocco is not near, reports El Pais.
The head of the Spanish diplomacy wishes the return to his post of the ambassador of Morocco in Madrid, Karima Benyaich, recalled to Rabat for consultations last May. However, Albares does not seem to attach great importance to the remarks of the Moroccan Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, who on Wednesday invited the kingdom’s partners to clearly express their position on the conflict in the Sahara, without expressly mentioning Spain. The Spanish minister prefers to stick to the declarations of King Mohammed VI who, in his speech of August 20 on the occasion of the Feast of the Throne, expressed his desire to “inaugurate an unprecedented stage” in relations with ‘Spain.
On Monday, King Felipe VI also affirmed Spain’s readiness to “move forward together” with Morocco. But the Moroccan authorities are still waiting for Spain’s “gesture” before any resumption of relations, that is to say, that it recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, as did in December 2020, the States United under Trump. “We want a political solution, mutually acceptable to the parties and, within the framework of the UN”, insisted Albares, during his recent meeting with the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Washington.
Spain made an air force plane available to the new United Nations special envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, for his first regional tour which took him to Morocco, to the camps of Tindouf and Algeria.
