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Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu met on Wednesday with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS organized in Marrakech, the Kingdom of Morocco.
On this occasion, Minister Bourita gave thanks for Romania's efforts and the assistance provided to Moroccan citizens, with over 1,500 having been helped to cross from Ukraine to Romania and then to repatriate to Morocco, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), in a press release sent to AGERPRES.
According to the cited source, the two ministers had an exchange of opinions on issues of regional interest, on which occasion Bogdan Aurescu presented Romania's assessment of developments in Ukraine and the global impact of the Russian military aggression, including on food security and energy security.
The head of the Romanian diplomacy reiterated "in the strongest terms the condemnation of Russia's illegal, brutal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine" and highlighted our country's support for the evacuation of Ukrainian refugees and the repatriation of third-country nationals as well as the substantial humanitarian aid given to Ukraine in this context, respectively for the support of the Ukrainian economy.
Moreover, in view of the 60th anniversary of Romanian-Moroccan diplomatic relations in 2022, the two heads of diplomacy reaffirmed the readiness and special interest of both sides to continue their efforts to boost political dialogue at all levels, as well as for deepening economic and sectoral cooperation, for example in the fields of defense, agriculture and education, including by increasing the access of Moroccan students to the study programs offered by Romanian universities.
Bogdan Aurescu accepted the invitation of Nasser Bourita to pay an official visit to Morocco later this year, on which occasion the 11th session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Scientific and Technical Cooperation could be organized, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The top diplomat also highlighted the significant potential for growth in trade, which exceeded one billion dollars last year, and said that the organization of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission will be able to facilitate the identification of new areas of cooperation and investment opportunities in Romania, as well as in the Kingdom of Morocco.
The heads of Romanian and Moroccan diplomacy agreed on the Romanian side's proposal to conclude a Roadmap for Bilateral Cooperation, with concrete objectives and deadlines, to guide the pragmatic development of the bilateral partnership.
The two officials also discussed EU-Morocco relations, as well as the Western Sahara case, with the Romanian side reiterating Romania's position on the issue.
