The Minister of Finance, Employment and Commerce of Melilla, Dunia Al Mansouri, said during the ‘Ceuta Economic Forum’, on Tuesday, that Morocco’s economical advancement, is an opportunity for Cueta and Melilla, adding that neighbors should love and understand each other.
“You have to think coldly and understand that the neighbors are obliged to understand and love each other,” she said.
Al Mansouri stressed the importance of working together to protect the shared borders in Cueta and Melilla, suggesting “finding alternative solutions to replace the closed border crossings’ policy.”
The political crisis between Madrid and Rabat has affected the situation of the border crossings in occupied Ceuta and Melilla, since the beginning of the “Covid-19” pandemic, as the “Trajal”, “Bani Ansar” and “Ferkhana” crossings are still closed for more than a year and a half due to health emergency’s situation in the two territories.
Hundreds of unaccompanied minors were among 10,000 people who tried to enter Ceuta in May by scaling a border fence or swimming around it. Morocco has since taken back most of the adult migrants.
The crisis took place after Spain agreed to provide medical treatment for the Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. Rabat reacted furiously and recalled its ambassador in Madrid, with Spain accusing Morocco of tolerating illegal immigration and using immigrants as a diplomatic weapon.
The Minister of Finance in the Melilla government called for “focusing on the capabilities available in Al Thaghrin,” noting that “the small geographical area does not allow for the possibility of constructing factories, but we can follow the experience of leading technological and digital companies, with collaborating with Morocco and Africa,” she said.
Regarding the demand of some Spanish parties to annex Ceuta and Melilla to the European “Schengen” zone, Al Mansouri stressed that “it is necessary to think carefully about this matter.”
Some Spanish political parties have called, before, to include the two cities, Cueta and Melilla, in the customs regime of the European Union and the Schengen area, as well as placing them under the protection of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “NATO.”
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