Antwerp - Belgium: Europe and the Arabs
The Moroccan Consulate in the city of Antwerp in northern Belgium celebrated Independence Day in the presence of the Moroccan Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, Mohamed Amer, and symbols of the Moroccan community from activists in various fields, including members and leaders of Belgian parties, as well as prominent figures in the economic, scientific, social, religious, cultural and other fields. Diplomatic and media figures of different nationalities also attended. The celebration began with the Moroccan national anthem, followed by Quranic recitations. After that, the Moroccan Consul in Antwerp, Mounir Qatito, spoke, saying, “Independence Day comes in a very positive national context driven by the bonds of cohesion between the throne and the Moroccan people, and the strong determination and will to continue working steadfastly to improve and enhance the important gains achieved by Morocco in terms of security, stability and development, which have become comprehensive. We see a Moroccan model to be emulated at the regional and international levels. He also pointed to a significant increase in the rate of services in consular work, as well as an increase in the percentage of young people who are keen to come to The consulate to benefit from the available services, whether by obtaining an identity card or other documents and other services, as well as benefiting from the electronic service that facilitates the procedures they carry out. Ambassador Mohamed Amiour then spoke after thanking the attendees for participating in this dear occasion for all Moroccans, which is to celebrate Independence Day. "But at the same time, this month, Moroccans celebrated a dear holiday, which is the Green March, as well as celebrating another event, which is the speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in which he addressed a message to Moroccans residing abroad. He added, "These three events will be the focus of my speech, and I will begin by celebrating Independence Day, which Moroccans celebrate with the aim of extracting lessons that can contribute to making the present and future the best possible for all of us. The most important lessons that we must not forget are that when the people ally with the monarchy in Morocco, all miracles will become within reach, because Morocco achieved independence thanks to the unity that existed between King Mohammed V and the people, and the king chose to ally with the resistance and be with them on one side in 1953 when the colonizer asked him to choose the king between the throne and the nationalists. This alliance has always been in history. Morocco is the secret of the success of Moroccans and also the secret of the successes achieved in recent years and now you as Moroccans can be proud of what Morocco has achieved under the leadership of King Mohammed VI. The second lesson learned is that after independence, King Mohammed V laid the foundations for the modern Moroccan state that we enjoy today, an organized state, and also laid the economic choices that are still in effect today, which is the free and open economy, and laid the political choices that are still continuing today, which is political pluralism in Morocco. These constants made Morocco the only country in the Arab region, with the exception of the Gulf, that chose this matter, while there are other countries that chose the Soviet approach with a single party, a single union, a single president, and the status of Morocco as an economically open monarchy open to the world, and made neighbors upset. Among the reasons that made Libya and Algeria create this Sahara problem is that they were upset with the old regime that has had legitimacy for centuries and has political, economic, social and diplomatic choices against the trend that was prevalent in the region, and Gaddafi wanted to create a revolutionary focus against the monarchy that is allied with America and the West, and Algeria came after This gave things another direction and for this reason independence reminds us of the previous choices that made the country survive many of the disasters that countries in the region witnessed later. This is also the secret of Morocco's steadfastness despite what happened in other countries in the Arab Spring. Morocco remained a safe and stable country. People demonstrated and demanded more development, social justice and democracy, which are legitimate demands. So the source of strength that will preserve our existence today and tomorrow is the alliance between the King and the people. Thank God, we are continuing in the same direction, as well as the correct choices made by Mohammed V and built upon by King Mohammed for Hassan II, then King Mohammed VI developed them. Then the ambassador moved on to talk about the other event, which is the Green March, which made our country recover its lands peacefully. It was the implementation of a very smart idea by King Hassan II, and 350,000 people participated in it after registering 2 million people who wanted to participate in it. Then he addressed the last speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in which he addressed the issue of the institutions that deal with the file of Moroccan immigrants abroad. The matter will be summarized in two institutions: the Moroccan Community Council Abroad, which is present in the constitution, and today the government is currently working on reforming the law. This council and other institutions will be combined into one institution, the Moroccan Institution for Moroccans Residing Abroad, which will be responsible for implementing all policies that concern Moroccans abroad, whether in the field of education, religion, culture, economy, or other.