Opening of the General Consulate in Laayoune by Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire on February 18, 2020, inaugurated  its General Consulate in Laayoune in the Moroccan Sahara. The opening ceremony of the consulate was chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and Cote d'Ivoire's minister of African Integration and Ivorians Abroad, Ally Coulibaly

This inauguration is not without significance. It reflects the excellent relations between Morocco and this brotherly West-African country and the willingness of Côte d’Ivoire to confer to its partnership with Morocco a Pan-African orientation.

Through this opening, Côte d’Ivoire matches its words with deeds as the opening of its General Consulate has undergone a thorough internal legal and institutional process and has been approved by the Council of Ministers as well as through the publication of Presidential Decrees.

“In foreign policy, as in other fields, we are careful not to teach moral lessons, and we do not want to be told what to do or not to do. This is an important principle for us", insisted the Minister of African Integration and Ivorian Expatriates Ally Coulibaly during a joint press briefing with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad Nasser Bourita.

The decision to open a consulate general in Laayoune "is a decision that we fully assume because it is part of our sovereignty (and) because it is in conformity with our interests and our values", he added during this press briefing, held after the inauguration of this diplomatic representation, the 5th in Laayoune after those of the Union of the Comoros, the Central African Republic, Gabon and Sao Tome-and-Principle.

The Ivorian minister pointed out that this act "must not give rise to any controversy whatsoever", since Cote d'Ivoire has never concealed its support for the Moroccan identity of the Sahara.

"Opening a consulate general in this strategic region with an undeniable international calling is therefore part of the normal order of things," he said before reiterating his country's firm support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco, which he considers "serious and credible".

By taking such a decision, the "noble" ambition of the Ivorian government is to bring the consular administration closer to Ivorian nationals living in this region and to strengthen their consular protection, he explained.

Coulibaly pointed out that the initiative taken by Cote d'Ivoire to open a consulate in the provinces of the Moroccan Sahara "helps it to adapt its approaches to changes in the economic and financial environment of Morocco".

With the opening of the Ivorian General Consulate, the policy undertaken by African countries to open their General Consulates in the main cities in the Moroccan Sahara becomes an irreversible reality, in accordance with the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Through this new policy, Morocco puts into practice the doctrine of sovereignty advocated by His Majesty the King of Morocco, entailed by the recognition of the Moroccan Sahara by brotherly and friendly countries through the opening of their diplomatic representations in the two main cities in the Moroccan Sahara namely, Laayoune and Dakhla.