Ambassador Douglas Lute, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO called for strengthening ties with partner countries in the EU neighbourhood including Morocco, which has been named a major non-NATO ally in 2004.

The US official, who was speaking to journalists in Brussels ahead of a ministerial briefing, said that NATO should work together with the EU to adopt a “more cooperative approach” towards partner countries in the EU neighbourhood citing notably, Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine and Moldova.

On the turmoil prevailing in the EU’s neighbourhood, Lute said that NATO should “project stability beyond its borders.” “NATO appreciates the very simple fact that the more stable our neighbors, the more secure we are internally,” he said.

“So we have a responsibility internal to the alliance and we have a responsibility or role on NATO’s periphery, and you’ll see both of these themes play out Tuesday and Wednesday,” he added.

Last February, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow visited Morocco where he lauded the social, political and economic reforms that charted “a course of stability and progress.”