Speaking to the press following a meeting with Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, Mr Gloser stressed that "we deem it good that a real progress has been launched in this dossier thanks to the Moroccan initiative" devised by Morocco in the hope of putting an end to the 30-year-old dispute with the Algerian-backed movement Polisario over the control of Morocco's Southern Provinces, the Sahara. The North African country had retrieved the Sahara in 1975 under the Madrid Accord signed with Spain and Mauritania.
The German official, who noted that his meeting with the Moroccan Premier touched on bilateral ties and the means to further promote relations between the European Union and the countries of the Mediterranean, went on to say that "we are also satisfied with the UN Secretary General’s initiative to hold negotiations between the parties concerned."
Gloser, whose country currently holds the EU six-monthly rotating presidency, arrived on Sunday in Morocco on a two-day official visit. He had earlier in the day met with the Moroccan Finance Minister, Fathallah Oualalou, on the promotion of cooperation ties between the North African country and German in particular, and the European Union in general. He had also met with secretary general of the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, Omar Hilal.