Casablanca- Morocco is a "special partner" of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), particularly in terms of the Mediterranean Dialogue, Admiral Giorgio Lazio, Chief of Staff of NATO Maritime Command, said Saturday.
Morocco also participates in the "Active Endeavour" operation against terrorism conducted under a UN mandate since 2001, the Admiral said at a press conference held onboard one of the ships of the Standing NATO Response Force Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) that arrived Friday at the port of Casablanca, in a stopover before resuming its patrol mission in the Mediterranean.
The choice of the city of Casablanca for this stopover "reflects the excellent relations of cooperation between Morocco and NATO in promoting the exchange of expertise and knowledge through training activities," Admiral Giorgio Lazio said, adding that the visit of SNMCMG2 also aims to strengthen the bonds of cooperation with the Royal Moroccan Navy and carry out joint activities at sea.
"With the Moroccan navy, we will conduct drills and demonstrations to detect mines," he said, adding that the crew SNMCMG2 boats comprise 490 sailors, including 45 researchers in mine-searching.
SNMCMG2 is part of the NATO Response Force (NRF) and is the Alliance’s second mine countermeasures group. Although the Group has traditionally been operating on Europe’s southern flank, it can be deployed anywhere in the world.
Its mission is to provide continuous and far-reaching maritime mine countermeasures capability for operations in peacetime and periods of conflict. The group is therefore engaged in search and disposal operations within NATO but also with NATO partners (Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue, and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative).
Operationally, SNMCMG2 reports to the Maritime Component Command Naples, which is one of the three Component Commands of Joint Force Command Naples.