Bourita: Libya is not a cake for diplomacy… And our role has not started with Berlin and will not end with it

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has explained the reasons behind his country’s boycott of the second Berlin conference on Libya, stressing that Libya is not a diplomatic cake.

According to Hespress, the head of the Moroccan diplomatic mission revealed “the background of Morocco’s boycott of the Berlin II conference on Libya, despite the German Foreign Ministry’s official invitation to the Kingdom to participate in this conference.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Bourita noted that, on the instructions of King Mohammed VI, his country has been engaged from the very beginning in the search for solutions to the Libyan crisis, before these conferences and meetings take place.

Speaking at a press conference held in the framework of the visit of the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Salah Aguila, Bourita stressed that the position of the Kingdom stems from “fundamental convictions that Libya is a brotherly Maghreb country, and the stability, security and unity of Libya are of concern to Morocco.”

“Morocco’s role has not begun with Berlin and will not end with it; Morocco has been involved in this issue from the very beginning,” he said, noting that Morocco “does not change its role and does not increase or decrease, regardless of whether or not it receives the invitation to participate.”

The minister said that Morocco had from the very beginning “a position not to be summoned to the first Berlin conference, and this position was not expressed in order to be summoned again, but to confirm that the approach which was at the beginning and which led to the Kingdom not being summoned the first time was a wrong approach.”

He continued : “The question is why Morocco was not summoned in Berlin I and summoned in Berlin II should be directed to others to find out what has changed until Morocco is summoned in Berlin II? Has the role of Morocco changed until it is summoned to Berlin II? Are there considerations? Was there a mistake?”

“Libya is not a diplomatic cake to be worked on to be added to the visit card. Libya is the suffering of a people for some time and the will of a people to get out of the crisis through elections, not pictures, presence or non attendance.”

“Morocco supports the UN effort and does not work in isolation from the international effort, ” Bourita said, adding that Rabat is working within the framework of the efforts of the United Nations and the UN Special Envoy to Libya to find a solution to the crisis in accordance with the road map agreed upon by the Libyans, and the central role of Libyan official institutions in implementing this map.

“Morocco does not see its role in the Libyan issue outside the United Nations and the international effort, whether it is present or not; But these considerations of the Kingdom are also linked to the nature of our relations with the country hosting the meeting and what is happening in this relationship.”

“Solutions that do not stem from the Libyan reality and do not stem from what the Libyans want cannot succeed,” concluded the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Prescriptions placed outside the Libyan context and outside what the Libyans want can succeed in bringing Libya out of its crisis.”