Rabat – Morocco and the United States have strong shared interests in promoting regional peace, security, and prosperity, said Tuesday March 08, 2022, in Rabat U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, on the sidelines of the Morocco-United States Strategic Dialogue.
“Morocco and the United States have strong shared interests in promoting regional peace, security, and prosperity, and the Foreign Minister and I had the chance today to discuss a wide range of priorities in our bilateral relationship,” the U.S. official pointed out at a joint press briefing with the Moroccan minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr Nasser Bourita.
Ms. Sherman, who held political consultations with Bourita and co-chaired with him a round of the Morocco-U.S. Strategic Dialogue on regional political issues, stressed the quality of relations of friendship between the two countries.
“The friendship between our countries is the longest unbroken diplomatic relationship in the United States’ history, beginning with the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1787,” she underlined on the occasion of her first visit to Morocco as Deputy Secretary of State.
In addition to cooperation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, talks focused on the “critical” partnership in security and defense, Morocco’s leadership in maintaining regional peace and security and the shared commitment to gender equality.
“The United States is proud to support Morocco’s highly successful vaccination campaign,” she said, while commending HM King Mohammed VI’s leadership in advancing an “ambitious and far-reaching reform agenda”.
Regarding the Moroccan Sahara issue, Sherman voiced the support of the United States and Morocco to the efforts of Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations’ Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara, highlighting the unwavering stance of the United States on the autonomy plan, proposed by Morocco in 2007, as a lasting solution to the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.
“We continue to view Morocco’s autonomy plan as serious, credible, and realistic, and one potential approach to satisfy the aspirations of the people of the region,” she underlined.
On the partnership in security and defense, the U.S. official recalled that Morocco participates in more than 100 military exercises and events with the United States each year.
“Planning is well underway for African Lion 2022, our largest annual training exercise in Africa, and we are grateful to Morocco for continuing to host this event,” she noted.
The United States “also welcomes Morocco’s positive role in supporting the UN’s efforts on the political process in Libya and in hosting the inter-Libyan dialogue,” Sherman said, voicing her joy that her visit to the Kingdom coincides with the International Women’s Day.
In this regard, she said that her talks with Bourita also focused on the shared commitment to gender equality and promoting the rights of women and girls.
The Morocco-U.S. strategic dialogue on regional political issues provided an opportunity for U.S. and Moroccan diplomacy to review a range of issues of common interest, including security and human rights cooperation, and to discuss regional issues related to the Sahel, Libya and Ukraine.
In a joint statement issued at the end of this round, the American diplomacy reaffirmed Washington’s support to the autonomy plan proposed by the Kingdom and praised Morocco’s regional role in security cooperation.