"At a time of globalization, the worst thing we can do is polarizing and dividing our countries," said Narvaja, after talks with the Moroccan delegation taking part in the periodic political consultations between the Moroccan and Argentinean foreign affairs ministries.
Narvaja said Morocco's autonomy plan is "one of the modern conceptions" of self-rule since it offers the possibility of managing affairs democratically, "but within the framework of a nation, which is very important."
She urged all those seeking to promote the integration of the Maghreb "to work to this end," and to "refrain from interfering in the domestic affairs of the countries" of the region.
Morocco's autonomy plan, which grants substantial self-rule to the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, has been hailed by the international community as a serious and realist initiative. The plan has triggered a UN-brokered direct negotiations process among the concerned parties to find a durable solution to the issue that has been lingering since the mid-Seventies.
Narvaja’s position tallies with that of Argentina's Foreign vice-minister, Victorio Taccetti who also underlined his country's support to the process of negotiations on the Sahara within the United Nations to find a solution that is "agreeable to everybody."
On bilateral relations, Narvaja called for reinforcing efforts to boost relations, especially between the two countries’ parliaments, but also in the UN and in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
She also pledged to initiate the necessary procedures to bolster the Moroccan-Argentinean parliament friendship group in order to serve bilateral relations.
The political consultations were held under the co-chairmanship of the secretary general of the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, Youssef Amrani, and Argentinean foreign vice-minister, Victorio Taccetti.
Speaking to reporters, Amrani hailed the “excellent cooperation” between the two countries, saying the meeting has focused mainly on promoting regional integration within the context of Mercosur, the common market between Argentina Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and the Arab Maghreb Union, which musters Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
The parties also discussed the reform of the UN, mainly the enlargement of the Security Council.
On this issue, Amrani told MAP that “it is our duty to carry out an adequate reform in the UN system by strengthening and adapting the organization to international transformations through cooperation between our countries in order to avoid hierarchy within the UN”.
Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue