The Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, met today at Palazzo Chigi with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita. The meeting, which was held in a particularly positive climate for bilateral relations between the two countries, is a further step in the Italian government’s Mediterranean diplomacy strategy and served to deepen the main bilateral and regional cooperation issues.
“Morocco is a strategic partner of Italy for the security of the Mediterranean; it is essential to work with it in order to achieve stability and prosperity in the region”, commented Minister Tajani, announcing his forthcoming mission to the country. The Italian Deputy Prime Minister was keen to emphasise the Italian government’s strong desire to deepen bilateral relations, fully executing the ambitious Action plan for the implementation of the multidimensional strategic partnership between Morocco and Italy– concluded during today’s visit – which aims at deepening cooperation between the two countries on political, economic and energy, security, cultural, migration and consular issues. It was precisely on migration issues that the two ministers agreed on the need for a common method that can effectively respond to the challenges affecting both countries. “Italy is committed to promoting an ambitious long-term approach to migratory flows and their root causes, relaunching partnerships with the countries of North Africa and the Middle East,” Minister Tajani commented, “and to this end, we want the next Conference on Development and Migration, which we will be organising in Rome at the end of July, to launch a platform for concrete and shared cooperation between all the countries involved”.
On the economic and entrepreneurial cooperation front, Italy and Morocco have recorded a strong recovery in exchanges after the pandemic, exceeding the level of the last seven years. In particular, interchange increased by over 27% in 2022, and the opening of a Cassa Depositi e Prestiti representative office in the country is imminent.
Finally, on the main regional and international issues, the commonality of views between Italy and Morocco was confirmed, particularly as regards the fight against terrorism (Italy and Morocco are indeed co-chairs of the Africa Focus Group of the Global Coalition Against Daesh), the stability and prosperity of Libya, the Middle East peace process, and the stabilisation of the Sahel. “Morocco is an indispensable country in our Southern Neighbourhood and will always be able to count on Italy as a friendly country within the European Union”, concluded Tajani.
