Rabat- During the last twenty years, Moroccan-French relations have been portrayed as “exemplary.” Now that France has a new president outside the two traditional main political forces, the right and left, questions have been raised on what exactly these relations will look like.
Rabat- During the last twenty years, Moroccan-French relations have been portrayed as “exemplary.” Now that France has a new president outside the two traditional main political forces, the right and left, questions have been raised on what exactly these relations will look like.
One might expect the two countries will keep on enjoying strong ties. Recent history is here to prove it.
Chirac, Sarkozy and Hollande
Except for one year of tension between 2014 and 2015, Rabat and Paris have been on good terms during the last two decades.
Personal relationships between the King Mohammed VI and the recent French presidents have played an important role in strengthening ties between Rabat and Paris and appeasing tensions at times of dispute.
Coming amid a strained relationship between the late King Hassan II and former Socialist president François Mitterrand, the ascension of Jacques Chirac to the presidency marked a turnaround in relations between the republic and the throne.
Chirac made a shift from Mitterrand’s anti-Morocco policy, where the socialist were constantly critical of the kingdom’s human rights record and were more in alignment with the Polisario Front in the dispute over Western Sahara, towards friendlier relations with Morocco.
“Chirac established a new French policy based on backing Morocco in his endeavors to defend its territorial integrity”, former Foreign Affairs Minister and current Head of Moroccan Government, Saad Eddine Othmani, told Elaph.
Described as a “friend of Morocco,” the good relationship between the right-wing president and the kingdom continued after his 12 years in office. A habitué of Agadir in the south of Morocco, Chirac and his wife Bernadette spent a good deal of their time there. Friends of the royal family, the former French presidential couple continued to be warmly welcomed in the kingdom.
The mandate of the right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy was marked by good relations with the King and Morocco. On several occasions, Sarkozy hailed Morocco as a model for stability in North Africa.
“At Europe’s doorsteps, almost complete instability is raging on the other side of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Morocco where we can rely on a great king,” said Sarkozy during one of his 2017 campaign speeches.
However, during François Hollande’s term relations turned sour at the beginning. In his first visit outside the European Union, the Socialist president chose Algeria over Morocco, which was seen as an indication he sought better ties with Morocco’s rival.
When French authorities sought in 2014 to question Morocco’s intelligence chief Abdellatif Hammouchi, over torture allegation, during a visit to Paris, tension arose between the two countries.
Morocco suspended security information sharing and coordination with France in protest over the incident. Then, hit by several terrorist attacks, Paris sought resumption of security cooperation with Rabat.
Personal relationships between the King and Hollande grew stronger, and for the first time a Socialist French government has become an important ally for Morocco regarding the question of Western Sahara.
The King recently became the last leader to be received by François Hollande, during his vacation in Paris.
A new man at the Elysée
The King Mohamed VI closely followed French presidential elections during his stay in Paris. As soon as the elections’ second round results were announced, the king addressed his congratulations message to the newly elected president Emmanuel Macron.
“Your victory has crowned your political career. It is also a tribute to your high human and intellectual qualities, paid by the French people who have remained faithful to the founding values of your country. They have chosen the path of progress, openness, and faith in the future,” read the royal message.
Macron’s election has certainly shaken up the political scene in France, where the two major parties, the right-wing Republicans and the left-wing Socialist Party, have lost their appeal.
The king’s stay in France at the time of the presidential elections is surely not fortuitous. In 2012, he was the first leader to be received by Hollande following his election.
Morocco will be seeking to continue strong relationships with France under Macron. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Paris is Rabat’s major ally regarding Western Sahara.
France is also Morocco’s main trading partner, as well the first foreign investor in the country, with 17 ? FDI in Morocco in 2015.
In addition to that, cooperation between the two countries covers security, culture, and religious reform.
Morocco has shown support for France’s military intervention in Mali in 2013. The two countries constantly share security information. France sees Morocco as a cultural stronghold. Also, faced with growing concern over mounting extremism, Paris is turning to Rabat for help to counter radical ideology through training French imams and preachers.
The king called for “this exemplary cooperation to be strengthened” in order to meet the challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean and Sahel regions.
A future friend?
During his campaign, Macron paid a visit to Algeria in February where he was warmly received by Algerian officials.
Unlike the right-wing candidate François Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, depicted by local press as “pro-colonialists,” Macron was seen as Algeria’s favorite candidate.
With the lasting tension between Morocco and Algeria, especially over Western Sahara and rivalry to attract French investments, each country is seeking stronger relationships with France than the other.
Macron’s visit to Algiers certainly raised questions in Morocco as to which part he is seeking cooperation with most?
The newly elected president did not pay a visit to Morocco. His diplomatic adviser, Aurélien Lechevallier, in an interview with Moroccan French-language magazine Tel Quel, sought to put Moroccans at ease by saying the trip had been planned but was not made due to the candidate’s busy agenda.
Lechevallier added that Macron is “totally aware of Morocco’s economic development” and that he believes the King Mohammed VI can play a “strategic” role in East-West and European-African relationships.
“He is convinced that a solid partnership between our two countries is indispensable to meet many of the challenges, particularly security, economic growth, employment and sustainable development”.
Macron had outlined a vision for tripartite cooperation between Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. “For this cooperation to be successful, Morocco’s engagement is crucial,” said Lechevallier.
Asked about where Macron stands on the Western Sahara issue, Lechevallier said the the newly elected president “sees Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal presented in 2007 as a serious and credible basis for a negotiated solution” to the conflict.
Macron’s diplomatic adviser expressed his conviction that the new president will, like his predecessors, establish good relations with Morocco.
“He already has networks in politics, culture and economy mainly thanks to Moroccans living in France, who act as a bridge between our two countries”.
