EU representative Borrell and Bourita reportedly still expected to meet in upcoming days

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita, are set to meet in the upcoming days, an EU source told EFE.

“There will be a meeting between both parties, but no specific date has been set,” added the same source.

Previously, as doubts arose following Borell’s statement to the Spanish TV channel RTVE last week, which Polisario separatists interpreted as “supporting the front’s position” on Western Sahara, the Moroccan Minister called for the meeting to be canceled.

Less than a day later, Borrell retracted his statements. According to him, the Moroccan Sahara issue is “going through an agreed-upon solution between the two parties within the framework of United Nations resolutions.”

Following that, Bourita stated that Borrell’s statements “do not reflect the Spanish or European position.”

“As much as we regret these statements, the explanations that followed indicated that it was merely a slip of the tongue,” he added.

Observers explained Bourita’s cancellation of his meeting with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy as a result of the recent royal speech in which King Mohammed VI stated that the Moroccan Sahara issue is “the lens through which Morocco views the world, and it is the clear and simple criterion that measures the sincerity of friendships and the effectiveness of partnerships.”