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The German embassy has shrugged off reports of diplomatic tensions between Morocco and Germany, claiming that there is no significant bilateral rift and that Berlin remains open to deepening essential cooperation with Rabat.
In a statement, the embassy described recent reports about lingering Moroccan-German tensions as “false information,” arguing that Berlin still considers its relationship with Rabat as essential and strategic.
“The Kingdom of Morocco is a pivotal partner for Germany. From the federal government’s point of view, it is in the interests of both countries to return to the traditionally good and expanded diplomatic relations,” the embassy said.
The statement also spoke of the “alleged news” about a policy paper by German researcher Isabelle Werenfels.
Though published in 2020 for the government-funded German Institute for International & Security Affairs (SWP), Werenfels’s paper resurfaced in Moroccan media in July this year. Many Moroccan political observers and analysts interpreted its conclusions as being against Morocco’s strategic interests in Africa.
In the paper, Whernfels described Morocco’s development as “fueling Algeria’s feeling of growing irrelevance.”
She also urged for more support to Algeria and Tunisia, who have experienced both economic and political crises in the past years.
As the paper made waves in Moroccan media, many Twitter users shared Werenfels’ pictures with the hashtag “Germany is attacking Morocco.”
However, the German embassy is adamant that the author is not an employee of the German Federal Intelligence Service and only speaks in her own name as an expert of North African affairs.
“She is a recognized expert on Maghreb affairs, working at the independent Research Center for Science and Policy,” the embassy said. “The news circulated in recent days on social media and in some newspapers is false and has no basis in truth.”
It added that Berlin deplores the much-circulated “disinformation” about relations with Morocco and is committed to a forward-looking partnership with Rabat.
“The Federal Government unequivocally welcomes the normalizations between Morocco and Israel,” the embassy concluded, indirectly — though unsatisfyingly — responding to Rabat’s criticism of Berlin’s unwelcoming reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to unambiguously support Morocco’s position on Western.
Just last week, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita appeared to mention Morocco’s displeasure with Germany’s unclear stance on the Sahara conflict when he reiterated the Moroccan government’s new policy with foreign partners: clarity and reciprocity on all sensitive issues for Rabat.
Relations with Germany require “action and efforts, in line with a logic that takes into account clarity and reciprocity,” Bourita was reported as saying in a closed-door meeting with the Foreign Affairs Commission of Morocco’s House of Councilors.
In March, Morocco’s Foreign Ministry announced the suspension of all contact with Germany’s embassy in Rabat. The North African country then recalled its ambassador from Germany in May, justifying its move by recounting how Berlin had consistently undermined Moroccan interests.
With the German embassy’s statement now hinting at an apparent readiness to sort out the months-long rift between Berlin and Rabat, it remains to be seen how the two counties will mend their damaged but continuing ties and whether Berlin will eventually embrace Morocco’s Western Sahara position.
