Address of Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami Speaker of the House of Representatives President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean At Opening of the Summit of Speakers of the Parliaments Members of the Assembly

 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Honorable Speakers,

Esteemed colleagues,

I am delighted to welcome you, dear brothers and friends, to the soil of the Kingdom of Morocco, and I thank you for accepting our invitation, which represents a token of the friendship uniting our countries and entrenches the parliamentary dimension of Mediterranean partnership and cooperation in a regional and global context filled with challenges and threats.

It was wise of us to agree on the theme "Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the 21^stcentury and the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean in consolidating said cooperation" as the focus of the 17^th Session of our Assembly, its bodies, and its mechanisms, including the Summit of Speakers.

Before we shift to the future of our relations, allow me to raise the question regarding the current conditions in the Euro-Mediterranean region and its aftermath, and before that, to inquire about the outcomes of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and partnership. In this context, the Barcelona Process launched in late 20^th century gave great hopes for achieving peace and security, as well as sharing growth by transforming the Euro-Mediterranean space into an area of shared prosperity. Hence, the question is whether we have turned these hopes into reality after almost three decades since the establishment of institutional bridges in the relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean and after twenty years of transforming the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Forum established in 1998 into a Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in 2004.

Honorable Speakers of councils, heads of delegations, and colleagues allow me to affirm that I am fully convinced of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and I believe in a better future for the region's peoples. However, the current state of geopolitics and the security situation in our Euro-Mediterranean region are today more than ever a source of concern, and even regret, as several factors undermine coexistence, cooperation, and understanding, threatening to dispel all hopes that emerged from the Barcelona Process, the Oslo Accords, and the Madrid Conference on Peace in the Middle East.

The challenges facing our Euro-Mediterranean region have worsened, giving rise to new issues that hinder understanding and erode bilateral and multilateral relations between the region's countries and regional groups. Thus, peace in the Middle East seems today farther than ever, as the bloodshed in Gaza, the massive destruction it suffers, and the deprivation of its children of their right to life and to enjoy their humanitarian rights question us all, increase the level of hatred, and nourish the already fertile ground of intolerance and extremism.

Around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, other destructive disputes for which the peoples of the region pay the price are brewing, and extremism and terrorism are growing in an environment of instability and absence or weakness of State power.

Faced with these volatile conditions, we must not give up and must continue our quest for peace. I believe that what has happened and continues to happen in Gaza and other Palestinian territories should not hinder the efforts to pave the way for a proper resolution and a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution following international legitimacy and law, allowing the Palestinian people to have their viable independent State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital and under the leadership of the Palestinian National Authority.

The people of the region have grown weary of wars, conflicts, destruction, violence, and despair, and Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians who bear the brunt of this conflict has exceeded all limits, reaching the extreme level of intimidation, deprivation of food, humiliation, and denigration. Faced with this, we must address the roots of this conflict and the origins of the cause by ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as dictated by international legitimacy and the relevant UN resolutions.

Allow me to recall that the Kingdom of Morocco, whether under the reign of the late His Majesty King Hassan II, may God bless his soul, or that of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, Chairperson of the Al-Quds Committee, has always been proactive in defending Palestinian rights, founding its initiatives on the call for a peace powered by justice, solidarity, and coexistence among the region’s peoples. 

At the apex of the Israeli threat of a crushing attack on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinian citizens are crowded, influential powers in international decision-making must urge Israel to cease its war against Gaza and allow civilians to breathe the oxygen of life and enjoy moments of peaceful sleep free from the noise of planes and bombings. Today, global conscience and the values ​​of human rights, justice, and humanity are being tested in the face of this fierce escalation and war against isolated civilians. I seize this forum to compel our colleagues in the European Union to work with their governments for an immediate intervention to end this tragedy. I also exhort the world's parliaments to make their voices heard to cease the war immediately and to call for peace and dialogue.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In addition to the conflicts in the Middle East, other challenges confront our Euro-Mediterranean region. These conflicts and the war in Eastern Europe have prompted the region's countries to significantly increase military spending, reminding us of the arms race during the Cold War, knowing that the Euro-Mediterranean area accumulates the most significant quantity of weapons. While countries have the right to adopt the necessary defense policies to protect their security and interests, the question of increased military spending at the expense of crises, famine, and the acute food and services shortage questions us all as a Euro-Mediterranean community about what we have achieved in terms of peace goals in the region, as one of the core elements of the Barcelona Process, and about the possible conflicts that the future holds for us and their intensity.

Honorable colleagues,

Several old and new challenges threaten our region, including the repercussions of climate imbalances and pollution. In this regard, the Mediterranean Sea is considered the most stressed sea, where tons of pollutants are dumped, causing severe damage to marine resources and species. Furthermore, forest cover is alarmingly decreasing due to drought, fires, excessive soil exploitation, and exposure to stress. In addition to the consequences of all this on human life, leading to displacement, as well as on plant and animal diversity, humanity risks losing one of the wealthiest, most diverse, and most beneficial sources of nutrition in the world, the most beautiful tourist destinations on the planet, and a significant part of the human natural heritage, on which the oldest and richest civilizations have been built.

These challenges and factors, along with others outside the Euro-Mediterranean space and beyond it, contribute to a striking increase in the phenomenon of irregular migration, asylum, and displacement, with the resulting human tragedies. The Mediterranean Sea has become a cemetery for thousands of young people seeking hope for employment, livelihood, security, freedom, or protection from sectarian or ethnic intolerance. Those risking their lives in the death boats do so under duress, either because of wars, conflicts, drought, unemployment, or lack of income. In any case, they are victims of human trafficking networks and factors for which they are not responsible.

Migrations in our Mediterranean basin have been throughout ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary history, a phenomenon of intense, rich, and unique human enrichment, mixing, and acculturation. However, they are now, unfortunately, a source of conflicts, racism, discrimination, and stigmatization of the other, fueled by deceptive media. Furthermore, migration is now at the heart of electoral biddings in numerous countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean basin, with nativism and xenophobia topping the agendas of some political formations, thus becoming favored subjects of electoral bidding, as they ensure electoral wins.

Although successful models of integration and collective management of the phenomenon of irregular migration between the North and the South should not be overlooked, as evidenced by the well-known model of multifaceted cooperation between the Kingdoms of Morocco and Spain in dealing with the phenomenon (despite all this), all democratic parties, forces, intellectuals, and institutions in the North are called upon to reverse the equation linking the problems of European societies to the phenomenon of migration and to confront xenophobic discourse. They must also recall the historical roles of migrants in the economies of several European countries, as well as the contributions of many of them, their children, and fellow citizens to the scientific, cultural, and sporting radiance of these countries.

Allow me also to recall that the countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean are no longer primarily sources of migration, but some of them have become host and transit countries, with all the costs that implies, which add to the expenses related to displacement and asylum, mainly due to conflicts.

Honorable colleagues,

Despite the growing challenges and factors that do not facilitate the achievement of the noble objectives for which the Barcelona Process and the parliamentary arm of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation were launched, our economic partnerships have made significant strides thanks to the vitality and adherence of the private sector on both shores, as well as advanced bilateral and multilateral agreements. However, our exchanges still require more legal security and political commitment from all parties to protect them from the whims of narrow interest lobbies and extreme ideological tendencies exploited by parties interested in eroding the freedom of trade and commercial exchanges and keeping the region captive to the logic of the Cold War and its ideology.

In return, in national parliaments and in the European Parliament, we must ensure the consolidation of agreements concluded by our countries and guarantee their legal security to facilitate their implementation without hindrance and protect them from being objected to the whims of some.

The Euro-Mediterranean partnership has made significant progress in the field of renewable energies, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, civil society, as well as scientific and academic research, as evidenced by the well-known Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez, the spiritual capital of the Kingdom of Morocco.

We have achieved many objectives in partnership for women's rights, gender equality, and institutional support, primarily through institutional twinning programs funded by the European Union, which I thank, as well as in programs supporting development and the green economy.

However, capitalizing on these achievements for the future remains contingent on the level of trust upon which our relationships must be based, political honesty in our relationships, mutual esteem, and respect for the sovereign decisions of our countries and institutions.

We must support this with cultural and intellectual dialogue, the facilitation of mutual understanding, and the revaluation of culture as a lever for exchanges, fraternity, and Euro-Mediterranean friendship. While fanatics and introverts from various parties work to further distance us from the dream of restoring the spirit of Granada, Fez, Athens, Rome, and Alexandria, the strong, bold, wise, and partnership-focused political decisions, that evoke history and are based on rights and values ​​rather than interests, will clarify the horizon of our partnerships and help us regain the hopes that were born in Barcelona almost thirty years ago.

The reality of fragmentation that characterizes the world order, as well as the threats we face together and the entry of new international actors into the equations of international conflicts, including terrorist organizations, all urge us more than ever to address our partnerships with the intention to renew them while respecting all parties involved, supporting the right of each state to its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and combating separatist tendencies that benefit from political and media deception to gain support, sow terror and violence, and fuel the cycle of violence, especially when their interests objectively align with those of terrorist groups.

As has always been the case, Morocco, faithful to the traditions of cohabitation, coexistence, moderation, and freedom, will spare no effort in pursuing its constructive engagement in the renewal of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

I welcome you once again and thank you for your keen listening.