Some 130 Moroccan troops to participate in peacekeeping mission in Bosnia

[LalaMimi]

Some 130 Moroccan troops will participate in the European Union's peacekeeping force in Bosnia, said MAP.

Rabat signed an agreement last Tuesday with the European Union (EU) to send the servicemen to join the 7,000-strong "Althea" mission in the former Yugoslav republic.


The Moroccan contingent has already taken part in the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia, replaced by the EU in December.


Moroccan Ambassador to the European Communities, Menouar Alem, said the signing of the agreement with the EU on Morocco's participation in the peacekeeping mission is the concretisation of the advanced status that is requested by Morocco. It also translates the trust marking relations between Morocco and the EU, he added at the end of talks with EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Javier Solana.


Morocco is the only non-NATO Arab and Mediterranean country to join the peacekeeping operation in the Balkans.


The Moroccan-EU agreement expresses Morocco's will to become further involved in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), explained the Ambassador. It was signed a few weeks after the European transport ministers' council had decided to start negotiations with the kingdom for access to the air transport market.


It also comes after the EU's proposal to negotiate with Morocco an agreement on the development of the European satellite navigation system (GALILEO).