Disputed island, the EU:

“Morocco should withdraw immediately “

BRUSSELS – The dispute over the islet must end, immediately, and it is Morocco that must leave. It is the European Union that says this, increasing the pressure on the Maghreb state to withdraw from Perejil-Leila. “The EU – says a very brief statement released by the Danish presidency – is very concerned about the situation created by Morocco on the island of Perejil. The Union expresses its full solidarity with Spain and urges Morocco to immediately withdraw its Strength”.

Already yesterday the European institutions – which in previous days had underlined the bilateral nature of the dispute between Rabat and Madrid – had shown greater involvement in the crisis. Commission President Romano Prodi, at the request of the Spanish government, came into contact with Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahman Yusufi. In the long telephone conversation – in which there were moments of tension – Prodi expressed the Europeans’ concern for the matter, inviting Yusufi to a speedy solution.

The Moroccan premier has pledged to “keep the situation limited without dramatization” and to work to resolve it. In the interview, of which he then reported the contents to the new Spanish foreign minister Ana De Palacio, the president of the EU Commission also warned Yusufi of the negative repercussions that Perijil’s occupation could have on bilateral relations between the EU and Morocco.

The Union and Morocco are linked by an association agreement which entails a series of commercial privileges for Rabat. In 2001, Morocco exported 6.2 billion euros (about three quarters of its total export) to the EU, while imports amounted to 7.4 billion euros (more than half of the total).

July 14, 2002