Morocco: Mohamed VI Will Not Receive Sánchez During the Bilateral Summit.

The King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, will not receive the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit to Rabat on Wednesday and Thursday. The two leaders have instead held a telephone conversation, in which they have agreed to “continue promoting the relationship between the two countries” and have hoped that the bilateral summit will be a “success”, according to Moncloa.

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The Alaouite monarch, who was unable to receive the Spanish president as he was outside Morocco, called Sánchez to an upcoming official visit to the Moroccan capital, which he accepted, according to government sources. The call lasted about half an hour, the usual duration of an audience in person, which, according to these sources, demonstrates the personal involvement of the King of Morocco in achieving the best results from this summit.

The next official meeting will be in a few weeks, according to these same sources, who also point out that the high-level meeting (RAN) is a meeting between heads of government and not heads of state, so the fact that there is no meeting between Mohammed VI and Sánchez is not out of the ordinary. Sánchez has claimed that the two countries “consolidate the new stage of their bilateral relations”, as he wrote on social networks.

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Government sources have added to Albares’ statements. Sánchez had known for days that Mohammed VI would not be in Rabat during the bilateral summit and, therefore, that they would not be able to meet, which is why they also agreed days ago to hold the telephone conversation that the two men had held, according to these sources.

They stress that this telephone conversation is more important than a mere protocol greeting in a post-summit audience between the King and the Prime Minister. The Spanish government insists on the importance of the summit taking place in the knowledge that soon, at the invitation of the king, there will be an official visit by Sánchez to Rabat, during which they will meet and can continue to make progress in boosting relations.

The visit “will be an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations” through “concrete actions and tangible projects”. The two countries are trying to normalize diplomatic relations after their worst diplomatic crisis in two decades. The conflict began with the reception in Spain in April 2021 of Polisario Front leader Brahim Gali for medical treatment, and culminated a few weeks later with the illegal entry of nearly 10,000 migrants into Ceuta in just over 24 hours and Morocco’s withdrawal of its ambassador to Madrid.

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The PP’s Deputy Secretary for Institutional Affairs, Esteban González Pons, has assured that there is no “greater humiliation” than “ceding everything to Morocco” as, in his opinion, the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, has done, and then King Mohamed VI does not receive him on his visit to Rabat. For this reason, he asked whether the President of the Government is “free” in the face of Morocco when “he allows himself to be ignored so much”.

González Pons was answered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who accused the PP of not understanding the relationship with Morocco and that foreign policy is a “state policy”. 

“The only denial comes from the PP”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs replied, questioning whether the PP understands the importance of the new relationship with Morocco “for Ceuta, for Melilla, for the Canary Islands, for Andalusia, for Spain”.

Having said this, he assured that the “Spanish Government is not going to skimp or spare any effort at any time to defend the interests of Spaniards” and to have the “best possible relations” with all neighboring countries.

Source:rtve