Speaker of the House of Representatives Visits the Republic of Austria

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami is performing a working and courtesy visit to the Republic of Austria on December 14-17, 2022, at the invitation of his counterpart, the Speaker of the Austrian National Council, Hon. Wolfgang Sobotka.

The visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the first visit of a Speaker of an Arab and African legislative assembly to the Austrian Parliament who renovated its seat. It comes ahead of commemorating the 240^th anniversary of the Morocco-Austria bilateral ties on February 28, 2023. Besides, the visit will culminate in the issuance of a joint statement by the Speakers of the Moroccan House of Representatives and the Austrian National Council.

The visit, being the first of its kind, will focus on the parliamentary brotherhood and friendship ties linking the Moroccan House of Representatives to the Austrian National Council. The two parties will also discuss the means to consolidate bilateral and multilateral parliamentary cooperation through the exchange of parliamentary and administrative expertise and experiences, the reinforcement of adequate and continuous parliamentary communication, and the intensification of meetings and coordination in the various regional and international parliamentary fora.

Moreover, the visit will be an opportunity to brief the Austrian side on the Moroccan parliamentary experience under the 2011 Constitution, the peculiarity of the Moroccan political and constitutional institutions, the relations between branches, the developments in the Moroccan Sahara cause, and the growing international support it enjoys. It will also be an occasion to shed light on the achievements of the Kingdom of Morocco and the projects it has launched under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah glorify and assist him.

The Speaker’s visit itinerary includes bilateral meetings and talks with the Speaker of the National Council of the Republic of Austria and the Chairperson and members of the Austria-North Africa Parliamentary Group, to explore the peculiarity of the Austrian parliamentary experience. The visit will also include attending the plenary sitting of the National Council and field visits to get further information on Vienna's political and constitutional experience.

Additionally, the visit of the Speaker of the House will also feature talks in the presence of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Vienna, H.E. Azzeddine Farhane, with the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Mr. Alexander Schallenberg, which would focus on the parliamentary, economic, and cultural relations between the two countries, as well as regional and international questions of mutual concern.

It should be noted that the National Council is one of the two chambers of the Austrian Parliament alongside the Federal Council. It comprises 183 members elected based on proportional representation in general elections for a five-year mandate.