Morocco’s ambassador to the European Union said the European Parliament stopped short of blaming Rabat for July’s mass crossings into Ceuta, although the adopted resolution explicitly calls on Morocco to strengthen migration cooperation and fulfill its commitments on border management and readmissions.
Ahmed Reda Chami, Morocco’s ambassador to the EU and NATO, told state news agency MAP that Thursday’s resolution contained “no incrimination” of Morocco and rejected attempts to attribute positions to the text that it did not contain.
The non-binding resolution passed September 17 by 339 votes to 225, with 16 abstentions. It condemned the mass irregular crossings into Ceuta and described the instrumentalization of migration as a “hybrid warfare” tool against a member state’s territorial integrity, without identifying Morocco as responsible for such instrumentalization.
However, the text does call on Spain and Morocco to intensify cooperation on returning and readmitting migrants who arrived during the July 29-31 crossings and urges Moroccan authorities to fulfill commitments on border management, migrant smuggling, identification and readmission.
The resolution also says EU relations with neighboring countries should depend on effective cooperation and that any statement questioning Spanish sovereignty is incompatible with the obligations of an EU partner.
MEPs separately criticized Spain’s large-scale migrant regularization policy, saying it could create a “pull factor,” and asked the European Commission to assess its possible cross-border effects.
Chami said several amendments he described as hostile to Morocco failed to make the final text and called for “open, frank and calm” dialogue between Rabat and the EU on migration.
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