Marzouki tours Maghreb

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In his first official visit to Algeria, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki continued his push for the Maghreb Union (UMA). Marzouki on Monday (February 13th) met with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika as part of a six-day regional tour.

"I hope that 2012 will be the year of the UMA," the Tunisian president told reporters.

"We need the Maghreb Union," he added. "We will do everything for it to exist, and it is in everyone's interest."

Marzouki reiterated that the issue of Western Sahara, which has long been a stumbling block to reviving the five-state union, is a "UN affair".

"When you have a problem you can't get over, you must go around it," he said.

The visit to Algiers is a final stage of a Maghreb tour aimed at reviving the long-stalled union. Marzouki last week visited Morocco and Mauritania.

"This year we will work to restore unity with our brothers in Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania, with the aim of resuscitating the great dream of a Union of the Maghreb, which has been frozen for years," Marzouki said after meeting with King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane February 8th in Rabat.

The Tunisian president said he envisioned a Maghreb Union that would be based on "freedom of movement, of residence, of employment, of investment and ownership, as well as the right to vote in local polls". He also called for a Maghreb summit this year and a Maghreb Parliament "within the framework of a union in which each country will maintain its independence and sovereignty like the European Union".

Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani described Marzouki's visit as "the start for re-activating many prior agreements and decisions to consolidate and develop bilateral relations between the two countries".

"It will also be a prelude for a better future for the Maghreb Union," he added.

The two parties held work sessions to prepare for the next stages of advanced relations, whether on political, economic and social levels, and to give Moroccans living in Tunisia and Tunisians living in Morocco a greater role and presence that would further strengthen relations between the two peoples, according to the Moroccan minister.

"The bilateral relations between Morocco and Tunisia are great due to the existence of a joint coordination committee on issues of mutual concern, in addition to belonging to a free trade area that also includes Egypt and Jordan," said Tajeddine El Husseini, professor of International Relations at the Mohammed V University in Rabat.

In a joint statement, the two sides vowed to push their bilateral relations to a new phase that would achieve quality development on all levels and deepen co-operation with the aim of reaching the desired integration.

They also reiterated their commitment to intensifying dialogue, consultations and co-ordination with the other countries in the Maghreb Union in order to build a new Maghreb system based on integration, solidarity, and development.

The goal is to turn the Maghreb Union into a real impetus for Arab unity and a main actor in the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation, in stability and security in the Sahel-Saharan region and African integration, according to the statement.

For his part, Benkirane insisted that "there is a unity bringing together the peoples of the region, but this unity must be activated on the ground".

"The Tunisian president is convinced of that, and he believes that there must be no barriers between these peoples in all fields, like the case of advanced countries that do not possess the necessary conditions of unity that the peoples of the region have," he said on February 8th.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.