Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee Receives Member of the Austrian National Council, Mr. Harald Troch

Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs, and Moroccan Expatriates Committee, Rep. Nadia Bouaida, received on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Seat of the House, Mr. Harald Troch, a member of the Austrian National Council, currently on a visit to the Kingdom.

On occasion, Rep. Nadia Bouaida noted that the Morocco-Austria relations are deep-rooted since they date back to 1785, and that the partnership between the two countries on several levels is a fertile ground for solidifying the parliamentary cooperation links between the two legislative institutions.

Attending the meeting, Rep. Nadia Kansouri, Rep. Aicha El Gourgi, and Rep. Rifaa Maelainine stressed in their interventions the important role the legislative institutions of the two countries could play in reinforcing the bilateral ties. In this regard, they shed light on the cooperation areas that can be developed between the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco and the National Council of the Republic of Austria at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

Besides, the Representatives called for consolidating solidarity to defend the national causes of the two countries and invited the Austrian National Council to visit the Southern provinces of the Kingdom and explore closely the major projects and development dynamics they feature.

On the same occasion, the Representatives gave detailed explanations to Mr. Troch on the position of the Kingdom of Morocco regarding the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara. They also shed light on the Kingdom's development in gender equality and women empowerment in various societal areas.

For his part, Mr. Harald Troch expressed his admiration for the similarity between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Austria in terms of ethnic, cultural, and social diversity.

On tolerance and religious coexistence, Mr. Troch commended the spiritual atmosphere under the wise leadership of the Commander of the Faithful, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, noting that it is a historically embedded feature in Austria, as it is a State with a Christian majority who was the first European country to formally recognize Islam as a State religion besides the Jewish minority. He also praised the role of the Commander of the Faithful in protecting religious minorities in the Kingdom of Morocco throughout history.