"We encourage all initiatives aiming at overcoming the deadlock concerning a problem which has lasted for long," said Louis Amado who is in Morocco to take part in the joint Morocco-Portugal High-Level meeting chaired by the two countries' Prime Ministers.

    It is in the interest of the European Union, the United Nations and the international community to find a solution to this problem and conditions for the stabilization of the whole region, he said adding that Morocco’s proposal to grant substantial autonomy to its Southern Provinces -the Sahara-, which "we find favorable" is part of this perspective.

    The Sahara, a former Spanish colony was ceded by Spain to Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords. The Polisario, backed by Algeria, claims the independence of the territory.

    The Portuguese minister said that Europe would be certainly facing many problems if peace and stability were not consolidated in the region. The Portuguese, just like the other Europeans are "very concerned" by this conflict, which has lasted too long in a region that is "very important for Europe".

    Amado, who made the statement after a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart, said his talks with Mohamed Benaissa focused on bilateral relations and Portugal’s priorities and initiatives as part of its rotating chairmanship of the European Union as well as on the future of EU relations with the Mediterranean, the Maghreb (a regional grouping mustering Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania) and Africa.