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Rabat – A group of French politicians and academics have expressed concerns about growing tensions between France and countries in North Africa – particularly Morocco and Algeria.
French network TV5 Monde featured a series of remarks from politicians and academics, who expressed frustration about the recent diplomatic crisis with countries in Africa, stressing that this reflects issues within France’s diplomacy.
January 19 marked the termination of Morocco’s ambassador duties in France. The decision to end the envoy’s duties came amid a diplomatic crisis over controversial decisions from France, including its ambiguous position on the Western Sahara dispute and visa restrictions affecting Moroccan applicants.
Amid the crisis with Morocco, Algeria’s regime also announced its decision to recall its ambassador to the European country earlier this month.
Algeria’s decision comes as a protest to France’s consular support to French-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui, who has experienced issues with the Algerian government.
The consular support helped the activist escape extradition from Tunisia to Algeria.
Speaking about the recent turmoil France is facing with both Algeria and Morocco, Historian and Professor at the University of Sorbonne Pierre Vermeren said that the situation reflects a “firm warning” against French diplomacy.
The President of the France-Morocco friendship group in the Senate, Christian Cambon, echoed the same frustration.
“We were emerging from an intense crisis linked to visa policy and we are starting upside down” due to an “initiative” from Macron’s party, Cambon said.
Anti-Morocco rhetoric
French and Moroccan political observers believed that France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna’s visit to Morocco in December 2022 would end the diplomatic tension between the two countries.
During the visit, the French minister claimed that consular services between the two countries have been “fully restored.”
The announcement came after France’s controversial decision to slash the number of visas issued to Moroccans by 50% in September 2021.
Despite France’s claims that consular services were fully stored, many Moroccans continue to denounce discriminatory treatment against them when following the visa application process.
A group of Moroccan associations have renewed their anger in a joint statement, condemning the humiliating treatment of Moroccans.
Many political observers have also suggested that recent hostile maneuvers by MEPs within the European Parliament also stem from the party close to Emmanuel Macron.
Cambon expressed the same concerns in his statement to TV5 Monde, suggesting that a hostile initiative from a party close to Macron has exacerbated the situation between Rabat and Paris.
“A recent vote by the European Parliament condemning the deterioration of press freedom in Morocco has deeply angered Rabat, which denounced an anti-Moroccan [rhetoric ] ‘orchestrated’ by the Renaissance presidential party in Brussels,” TV5 Monde wrote.
No more ambiguity
Professor Vermeren stressed that France’s ties with countries in North Africa are “in a permanently critical phase,” stressing that the only way to exit such a crisis is to “have a European policy.”
“It’s catastrophic especially since we are in an extraordinary context of successive crises,” referencing the situation in Ukraine, Vermeren said.
The academic also acknowledged that the status of relations between Morocco and France is also dependent on the country’s position on Western Sahara.
“The essential thing for Rabat … is the need for France to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, he said, recalling the positions adopted by the US and Spain.
The US recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in December 2020. In March 2022, Spain announced its decision to endorse Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Spain’s decision helped the European country exit one of the most challenging political tensions with Morocco.
Read Also: Spanish FM: New Phase of Relations with Morocco Will Open in ‘Best Possible Way’
King Mohammed VI has made it clear that all of Morocco’s partners, including its traditional partners whose stances concerning Morocco’s territorial integrity, are “ambiguous” to “clarify their positions and reconsider them in a manner that leaves no room for doubt.”
In one of his latest speeches in November 2022, the monarch stressed that the Sahara issue is “the lens through which Morocco looks at the world.”
“It is the clear, simple benchmark whereby my country measures the sincerity of friendships and the efficiency of partnerships,” the King added.
