Moroccan Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch is meeting with the Spanish President of the People’s Party (PP) Alberto Núñez Feijóo this Tuesday, to discuss what Moroccan-Spanish relations would look like under a PP government.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, the official will meet with the head of the Moroccan executive ahead of the Spanish elections, expected to be held no later than December 2023, to express his party’s plans to “seek parliamentary consensus, and promise loyalty in relations between Madrid and Rabat.”
Alberto Núñez Feijóo stated that this meeting will “strengthen Spain’s commitments and ties of neighborliness, reciprocity, honesty, and loyalty between Morocco and Spain,” as the party leader wishes to convey that the priority of the PP in foreign policy “is undoubtedly a relationship of neighborliness and loyalty with Morocco.”
“The first thing I want to tell Akhannouch is that we are going to adopt a reliable foreign policy with Morocco, we are not going to deceive you,” Feijóo told EFE, adding that his party is going to try to rebuild a foreign policy based on trust and parliamentary consensus within Spain.
The bilateral meeting will take place in the framework of the congress of the European People’s Party in Rotterdam (Netherlands), where Feijóo will participate for the first time after being elected as leader of the party.
The Spanish politician is expected to hold a dozen meetings with the leadership of European institutions, European prime ministers and leaders of the opposition.
Spain’s ruling coalition primarily comprises the Socialists and the far left Unidas Podemos, supported by a few regional parties.
On the eve of the Spanish elections, the PP’s shift is highly pronounced. As the largest opposition party within the current Spanish government and legislative, the People’s Party heavily criticized incumbent Spanish President Pedro Sanchez for his policy shift on the Western Sahara.
The PP argued that, to mend relations with Morocco, the government has damaged Spain’s relations with Algeria. Alberto Feijoo, a prominent leader of the People’s Party, criticised the executive for not informing the parliament before taking the decision.
However, today’s meeting cements Spanish parties’ understanding of the importance of a homogenous foreign policy, regardless of party affiliations.
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