Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra has finally released the contents of an agreement signed in July 2021 between the Netherlands and Morocco, after the country’s MP demanded the government to reveal the document.
After the tense exchange with elected officials last week, Hoekstra made public the contents of the document after he consulted the Moroccan side, according to Dutch media.
Hoekstra had been firm in front of parliamentarians, refusing to disclose the agreement, which is now public.
The agreement, according to local Dutch media, touches on everything from culture, to migration and NGO financing.
The government is committed to cooperating with the Moroccan side “on all fronts,” including support for the Moroccan Cultural Centre in Amsterdam, says the agreement.
The “action plan” of this agreement is set out in four areas, in which both sides agree to “cooperate more intensively” and “work to engage the Moroccan community in the Netherlands and the Dutch community in Morocco” through “the joint organization of economic, artistic and cultural activities.”
In the agreement, the Moroccan Cultural Center in Amsterdam would be “an inspiring catalyst,” reports Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, citing the agreement.
The two countries promise not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs, a Dutch concession and departure from former diplomatic chief Stef Blok and his media outbursts on the detainees of the Rif Hirak, point various Dutch media outlets.
Last October, the Netherlands announced that it would soon be able to send back Moroccan asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected.
However, this removal requires Morocco granting a pass. Last Thursday, Wopke Hoekstra refused to reveal the details of this agreement, despite the insistence of parliamentarians.
“The House has the right to know what has been promised in exchange for the return of rejected asylum seekers,” MPs demanded.
In the same session, she returned to the charge to ask the foreign minister to share the agreements confidentially.
Wopke Hoekstra promised to discuss them first with their Moroccan counterpart.
“I have never denied the existence of these agreements, which we have reached diplomatically,” said Hoekstra.
The agreement would not only contain economic and cultural aspects of cooperation. It would also extend to the management of migration.
According to Kati Piri, Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, the agreement also provides for prior consultation between the two countries on financial support for non-profit organizations and non-governmental organisations.
But on the diplomatic side, the agreement heralds a new era of bilateral relations, which began with the Netherlands’ support for the Moroccan proposal of autonomy for the Western Sahara.
In a joint statement with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, Wopke Hoekstra described the proposal as « a serious and credible contribution to the UN-led political process. »
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