Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for Prospective Studies and Security in Europe (IPSE), believes that the North African country should be called upon to play a much more prominent role

Marruecos, un gran aliado de Europa en la lucha contra el terrorismo

photo_camera AFP/FADEL SENNA - Members of the Moroccan central intervention brigades (BCI)

Jihadist terrorism in the Sahel has grown considerably in activity in recent years. Europe should not ignore the threat that this exponential increase in terrorism poses to the continent. When addressing Jihadist terrorism, Morocco should be one of the main allies to bear in mind when cooperating closely in the field of security.

Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for Prospective and Security in Europe (IPSE), stresses in a report that "Morocco has managed to establish a network within its own territory. This has enabled it to provide a coordinated response in terms of regional, continental and more specifically Euro-Mediterranean action and cooperation in the fight against terrorism. This is the "martingale" that makes Morocco the strong link in the fight against terrorism between Europe, Africa and beyond, the Mediterranean".

The report also states that it should not be overlooked that the Moroccan model of a "medium-term" Islam, which is serene, balanced and denounces religious influences from elsewhere, is also one of the significant tools in the fight against terrorism.

The specialist in security and defence issues emphasises another important point to bear in mind: "the strong social resilience and unwavering determination in the field of worship through the restructuring of the religious field by the state. All these elements help explain this type of international enthusiasm for Moroccan exemplarity".

According to Emmanuel Dupuy, the Moroccan model of combating radicalisation and violent extremism is arousing the interest of France and other European countries, such as Spain. Dupuy wished to recall that the cooperation shown by Morocco in the investigation into the attacks that bloodied Paris in 2015 is of vital importance, as it is thanks to Moroccan intelligence that the alleged organiser, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was able to be located and neutralised by the French security forces.

Despite all these advances in the field of security and cooperation with European countries, Dupuy considers that, beyond its cooperation with France, Morocco should be called upon to play a much more prominent role. The analyst considers that "security between the two sides of the Mediterranean is not reduced to excellent bilateral cooperation, but is built on broader cooperation".

Lastly, he wished to stress, in this connection, that Morocco should "undoubtedly" be led to play a much more predominant role, whether in the context of the initiative known as "G4 terrorism", proposed by the French and Belgian justice ministers, of Spain and Morocco and which will be consolidated during the next six months of the presidency of the European Union, held by Portugal from 1 January, or through the so-called 5+5 initiative, or in other frameworks that "may need to be reinvented to counter the terrorist threat at Mediterranean, African or European level".

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