The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita, announced that he would soon go to Syria to reopen the Moroccan embassy there, inaugurating a new stage in relations between Rabat and Damascus after more than ten years of rupture diplomatic. Alongside his Syrian counterpart, received in Rabat for his first official visit to the kingdom, Mr. Bourita saw this trip as a moment “of major political and diplomatic significance”which occurred at a time when Syria is going through a period of profound changes.
Under the authority of King Mohammed VI, Morocco, continued Mr. Bourita, remained faithful to a constant line towards Syria. Rabat supported “the aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity” without ever departing from respect for Syrian national sovereignty and territorial integrity. This position, he recalled, accompanied each of the stages the crisis went through.
Morocco prepares to reopen its embassy and revises bilateral agreements
Mr. Bourita then welcomed the developments initiated by the Syrian authorities during the current transition period. Morocco, he declared, congratulates the Syrian people and their leaders for the political, legal, economic and security measures already adopted, which would help to “restore stability, reunite Syrians and get the country out of a long period of tension.”
The Moroccan minister also noted several signs of a gradual return of Syria to its regional and international environment. New European and economic positions would now testify to a desire to treat Damascus as a partner in regional balances rather than a source of crisis. Mr. Bourita linked this development to the messages sent by the Moroccan sovereign to President Bashar al-Assad and the decision taken by Rabat last June to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital.
The minister also returned to several notable episodes in the Moroccan position during the Syrian crisis, notably the closure of the Moroccan embassy in 2012 and the visit made the same year by Mohammed VI to the Zaatari camp, in Jordan, where a Moroccan field hospital had received Syrian refugees. Mr. Bourita recalled that “The humanitarian dimension has never left Moroccan foreign policy towards Syria.”
Rabat grants one hundred university scholarships to Syrian students
The two countries have also decided to review all the agreements governing their bilateral relations, which are now considered insufficient in view of current expectations. This review should lead to the creation of a joint commission between foreign ministers, a permanent mechanism for political consultation and a consular commission devoted to issues affecting the Moroccan and Syrian communities.
Morocco will also grant one hundred university scholarships to Syrian students. Rabat also indicated that it remained willing to share its experience in several areas, including transitional justice, public administration, agriculture, maritime fisheries, tourism and food security.
At the end of this meeting, Mr. Bourita presented the reopening of the embassies in Rabat and Damascus as the foundation of a new diplomatic chapter called to deepen relations between the two states and to serve the stability of their Arab and regional environment.
