HM the King addresses a speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the Green March (Full text) – Media7

Monday, November 6, 2023 at 8:46 p.m.

Rabat – His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, addressed a speech on Monday evening to his faithful people on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the glorious Green March.
Here is the full text of the Royal Speech:

“Praise be to God, Prayer and Salvation to the Prophet, His family and His companions.
Dear people,

Today we celebrate an occasion dear to our hearts: the anniversary of the Green March which completed the territorial integrity of our country.

Out of fidelity to the eternal oath of this epic, we make it our duty to continue the steps of development, modernization and construction undertaken to ensure the conditions of a dignified life for Moroccan citizens. To this end, we ensure that the potential of our country, and more particularly that of the Moroccan Sahara, is used in the most judicious way.

Furthermore, since the Kingdom recovered its Southern Provinces, its vocation as an Atlantic country has been further affirmed.

Through its dynamism, our diplomacy has thwarted the maneuvers of adversaries, both declared and hidden, thus mobilizing increased international support in favor of our territorial integrity. As a result, our country now stands in a stronger and more solid position.

If, through its Mediterranean facade, Morocco is firmly anchored to Europe, its Atlantic side gives it complete access to Africa and a window onto the American space.

This is why we are determined to undertake a national upgrade of the coastline, including the Atlantic coast of the Moroccan Sahara. We are also committed to ensuring that this geopolitical space is structured on an African scale.

Our wish is that the Atlantic coast becomes a high place of human communion, a center of economic integration, a center of continental and international influence.

To do this, by successfully completing the large-scale projects launched there, we are ensuring that our Southern Provinces are provided with the services and infrastructure essential to their economic development. In addition, to ensure a fluid connection between the different components of the Atlantic coast, we strive to provide the necessary means of transport and logistics stations. This also includes thinking about building a strong and competitive national merchant marine fleet.

In order to better support the economic growth and urban expansion of the metropolises of the Moroccan Sahara, the establishment of a maritime economy must continue to consolidate the development of the entire region and benefit local populations.

In addition to the extensive exploration of offshore natural resources, this integrated economy must be based on continued investment in the maritime fishing sectors, the desalination of seawater for agricultural purposes, the encouragement of the blue economy and the support for renewable energies.

We also call for the adoption of a strategy dedicated to Atlantic tourism, the aim of which would be to highlight the many potentialities of the region and, thus, to establish it as a real destination for the practice of seaside and Saharan tourism.
Dear people,

Morocco, a country renowned for its stability and credibility, clearly understands the issues and challenges facing African countries, particularly those located on the Atlantic coast.

In fact, despite the quality of its human resources and the abundance of its natural resources, Atlantic Africa has a significant deficit in terms of infrastructure and investment.

In order to remedy this state of affairs, we are working, together with our brothers in Africa and all of our partners, to develop practical and efficient responses, backed by international cooperation.

It is within this framework that the strategic project of the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline falls, considered as a lever for regional integration aimed at bringing together the conditions for a common economic take-off, to trigger a dynamic conducive to the development of the Atlantic strip. . This company will also constitute a secure source of energy supply for European countries.

It is in the same spirit that Morocco took the initiative to create an institutional framework bringing together the 23 Atlantic African States with a view to consolidating security, stability and shared prosperity in the region.

To resolve the difficulties and problems facing the sister states of the Sahel, the solution cannot be exclusively security or military, but must be based on an approach of cooperation and common development.

Thus, to promote access of the Sahel States to the Atlantic Ocean, we propose the launch of an initiative on an international scale.

However, for such a proposal to succeed, it is essential to upgrade the infrastructure of the Sahel States and connect them to the transport and communication networks established in their regional environment.

Because we are convinced that this initiative will substantially transform the economy of these sister countries and, beyond that, the entire region, Morocco is prepared to make its road, port and rail infrastructure available to them.
Dear people,

I have already mentioned the seriousness and the spiritual, national and social values ​​which intrinsically characterize the Moroccan Nation in a highly turbulent world.

In this regard, the Green March beautifully translated the ancestral values ​​of solidarity, loyalty and patriotism, which allowed our country to liberate its territory and exercise its full sovereignty.

Speaking of seriousness, My goal has never been to complain about anything. In fact, what I meant was to urge everyone to continue to put their heart into their work in order to successfully complete the projects and reforms undertaken and, ultimately, to meet the challenges facing our country. Moreover, My intention, well understood by all, was largely well received by the active forces of the Nation.

In fact, it is an integrated system of values ​​which has made it possible to consolidate the achievements made in various areas, in particular the impetus of the development dynamic in our Southern Provinces and the consecration of their Moroccanness internationally. .

Praise God, while many countries have recognized the Moroccan nature of the Sahara, several other influential states have affirmed in turn that the autonomy initiative was the only possible way to resolve this artificial regional conflict.

In addition, the values ​​of solidarity, mutual aid and openness which are the distinctive mark of Morocco have contributed to strengthening its role and consolidating its position, thus allowing it to assert itself at the regional and international levels, particularly among brotherly Arab and African countries, as a key player and a credible and trustworthy economic and political partner.
Dear people,

The celebration of the anniversary of the Green March is an opportunity for Us to reaffirm Our attachment to the values ​​of this glorious epic and Our fidelity to its eternal oath.

We also welcome the efforts made by the Royal Armed Forces, the Security Services, the Territorial Administration as well as by all active forces, inside and outside national borders, to defend legitimate rights of the Moroccan nation.

We are seized at this moment with a moved and deferential thought for the memory of the Artisan of the Green March, Our Venerable Father, His Majesty King Hassan II, may God have him in His holy mercy, as well as for the immaculate memory of all the valiant martyrs of the Nation.

Wassalamou alaikoum warahmatoullahi wabarakatouh”.