EU to develop closer ties with Morocco

The EU and Morocco adopted an ambitious and comprehensive action plan after the 11th session of the EU-Morocco association council meeting in Brussels. Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Antanas Linkevicius, whose country holds the current EU Presidency, told a press conference after the meeting Monday night that "European and Morocco relations are very good. Morocco is a key partner for the EU in the region of South Mediterranean and we remain mutually committed to strengthening and deepening our long standing partnership." Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, told the joint press conference that "our shared objective is to strengthen and deepen our bilateral relations on the basis of the advance status. One important element of this is today's adoption of the new action plan for 2013-2017." On his part, Salaheddine Mezouar, Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, said "the strategic partnership with the EU is a choice. It is a societal choice and in its different facets and dimensions: freedom, universal values, human rights, democracy, gender equality and all those things that have to do with individual and collective freedoms." Source: KUNA