The president of the Moroccan House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi Alami, has denounced «maneuvers» by «some parties» within the European Parliament, amid tensions after the Moroccan legislative body chose to reassess its relations with the European Parliament following a critical resolution.
«This interference is not based on principles or values, but is motivated by conjunctural interests and led by lobbies that are more active with the rise in energy prices,» he said, as reported by the Moroccan state news agency, MAP.
Alami, who participated in a conference on the state of relations with the European Parliament organized by the two chambers of the Moroccan Parliament, stressed that these activities «are at the antipodes» of relations between Rabat and the European Union (EU).
Thus, he pointed out that they are contrary to the spirit of the partnership, which covers «strategic issues» at regional and international level, and recalled that the House of Representatives – the lower house of the Moroccan Parliament – has an institutional twinning project with seven European parliaments.
«It is about playing with the destiny of countries and indulging in childish behavior,» he lamented, before calling for partnership relations to be based on clarity, trust and mutual respect, and not «on tutelage and contempt and denigration of partner institutions.»
For his part, the president of the Morocco-EU joint parliamentary committee, Lahcen Hadad, indicated that several MEPs use the European Parliament as «a platform» to attack Rabat, in the framework of what he described as «a systematic war» against the African country.
The Moroccan Parliament on Tuesday approved the creation of a commission to reassess relations with the European Parliament following a resolution by the European body critical of the press freedom situation in the country, as well as Rabat’s alleged bribery scheme to gain influence in Brussels.
The text approved by the European Parliament called for respect for freedom of expression and of the media, denounced the use of the ‘Pegasus’ spying program and also demanded «a fair trial» for imprisoned journalists Omar Radi, Sulaiman Raisuni and Taufik Buachrine.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
