Rabat – Despite the Algeria regime’s reluctance to engage in a frank dialogue with Morocco, King Mohammed VI has again affirmed Rabat’s concerns regarding the closure of borders between the two countries.
The king of Morocco made his remarks during this year’s Throne Day speech, urging Moroccans to preserve the “spirit of brotherhood, solidarity and good neighborliness” with Algerian people.
Renewing his dialogue initiative, the king said Morocco is ready to work with the Algerian presidency to establish “normal relations between the two brotherly peoples.”
The closure of borders separating Moroccans and Algerians will “ never be barriers preventing their “interaction and understanding,” the monarch emphasized
The speech also condemned hostile campaigns alleging that Morocco and Moroccans are involved in insulting Algeria and Algerians, emphasizing that such campaigns are from “irresponsible individuals who strive to sow discord between the two brotherly peoples.”
Reiterating the country’s commitment toward good neighborliness, the king assured that Morocco will never allow anyone to harm its neighbors and brothers.
“We assure the Moroccan people of our firm will to find a way out of the current situation and to promote rapprochement, communication, and understanding,” between Algerians and Morocco.
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Algeria decided to cut ties with Morocco in August 2021 amid Morocco’s diplomatic gains in the Western Sahara dossier. In addition to cutting ties, Algeria also closed its airspace with the North African country last year.
Observers attributed Algeria’s decisions to the recent growing support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan.
In June, Algeria decided to halt a 20-year-long treaty of friendship with Spain after the European country endorsed Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible basis to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
In recent years dozens of countries have established a diplomatic presence in the Western Sahara region in support of Morocco’s position, to the ire of Algiers, which militarily and financially supports the separatist Polisario Front.
The 2020 US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara region sparked a new diplomatic stand-off in the Maghreb. Recently, Spain’s voicing of support for Morocco’s peace plan resulted in renewed tensions and Algerian protestations.
Algeria’s diplomatic moves in response to developments in the Sahara dossier have prompted condemnation, particularly from the European Union, a key trade partner for both nations. The EU has lamented decisions by Algiers that led to the closure of the shared Maghreb gas pipeline, at a time when Europe is in desperate need of a reliable gas supply.
This is not the first time the king of Morocco extended an olive branch to Algeria. Weeks prior to Algeria’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021, the King spoke about the importance of ending the political stalemate with Morocco’s neighboring country.
In his 2021 Throne Day speech, the King echoed the same sentiment, stressing the country’s readiness to sincerely work with Algeria “without conditions” to restore positive bilateral ties.
“I am not satisfied with the current state of our relations for it does not serve our people’s interests, nor is it acceptable to a great many countries,” he said in his previous speech.
He also recalled that an open border between the two countries should be the norm, saying that their closure is ”incompatible with a natural right and intrinsic legal principles.”
