Morocco-Tunisia Relations: Is the Ice Finally Melting?

Marrakech – The recent meeting between Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch and Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during the 80th anniversary ceremonies of the Allied landings in Provence, France has raised hopes of a possible thawing of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The high-level encounter took place on the sidelines of the ceremonies, which were attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.

This meeting marked the first official interaction between Moroccan and Tunisian officials since the “TICAD crisis” in the summer of 2022.

Bilateral relations hit a low point in August 2022 when Tunisian President Kais Saied received Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali during the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) held in Tunis.

Morocco strongly protested this “serious and unprecedented act” by recalling its ambassador to Tunisia. Tunisia responded in kind the next day by recalling its own ambassador from Rabat.

According to the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, Ammar met with Akhannouch, who was representing King Mohammed VI at the Provence ceremonies. The ministry posted a picture of the meeting on their official Facebook page.

The Tunisian newspaper Tuniscope described the meeting as “important” and a “chance to affirm the shared desire to develop economic and political relations between the two brotherly countries and end the current situation.”

The newspaper reported that Ammar and Akhannouch “exchanged smiles and views on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Tunisia and Morocco.”

This meeting comes on the heels of statements made by Tunisia’s foreign minister in October 2023 denying any estrangement or enmity with Morocco.

“There is no rupture with brotherly Morocco… and there is no hostility… With time, the ambassadors will return to their embassies,” Ammar told the Tunisian newspaper Al Chourouk.

Many observers interpreted his remarks as a sign of a possible breakthrough in resolving the nearly two-year-old diplomatic crisis.

Prior to the current tensions, Morocco had been a strong supporter of Tunisia, including sending urgent medical aid in July 2021 on orders of King Mohammed VI to help the country cope with a severe wave of COVID-19.

The Moroccan monarch also made a historic visit to Tunisia in 2014 in the aftermath of its revolution, becoming the first Arab leader to do so and boosting the country’s image during a difficult transition.

However, under President Kais Saied, Tunisia has recently aligned itself more closely with Algeria, which backs the Polisario separatists against Morocco in the Western Sahara conflict.

Algeria has been pushing a “New Maghreb” project that excludes Morocco, although this initiative has been met with reservations from Tunisia and rejection by Libya.

Any lasting normalization of Morocco-Tunisia ties will likely require Tunisia to return to its former stance of neutrality on the Sahara issue that served it well for decades after independence.

The Akhannouch-Ammar meeting may be a tentative first step in that direction, but it remains to be seen if it will lead to a full restoration of the once strong and mutually beneficial relations between the two brotherly Maghreb nations.