Madrid (EFE).- The Government has sent a verbal note to Morocco to convey its complaint about the letter in which the Government of the neighboring country affirmed before the European Union that Ceuta and Melilla are Moroccan cities, diplomatic sources have confirmed.
The diplomatic complaint, sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Moroccan embassy in Spain, “categorically” rejects the terms used by the Moroccan government in its protest letter to the European Commission for the repeated references to the “Spanishness” of Ceuta and Melilla of the vice president responsible for Immigration, Margaritis Schinas.
Schinas has stressed on more than one occasion that the borders of the two autonomous cities are “internationally recognized” and are the border of the EU.
In response, Morocco sent a protest letter to the Commission expressing its discomfort at the statements about “the Moroccan cities of Ceuta and Melilla”.
Surprise in the Government
The Moroccan document has surprised the Government since, as part of the agreement to establish a “new partnership between Spain and Morocco” solemnly signed in April 2022, it specifies the commitment of both to “avoid everything that offends the other party, especially in what affects the respective spheres of sovereignty”.
The agreement also certified that the new relations would be based on “mutual respect, compliance with agreements, the absence of unilateral actions, and transparency and permanent communication.”
In addition, the Roadmap established that both countries were committed “to the full normalization of the movement of people and goods in an orderly manner”, and that the reestablishment of transit would include “the appropriate customs and people control devices at ground level and maritime”.
The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, explained then, in March 2022, that this implied the opening of borders and customs in Ceuta and Melilla “in the coming days”.
Since then, the transit of people has been restored but not that of goods, which continues with “pilot tests”.