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Rabat – After days of constant back-and-forth between Morocco and Spain over different regional issues, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said the ambassador to Spain Karima Benyaich, “will not return as long as the causes of the crisis persist.”
The Moroccan government has been incensed by Spain’s decision to allow Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario, to be transported to a Spanish hospital to receive treatment for COVID-19 under false identity. The whole operation, which took place in early April, was carried out in coordination with Algeria, Polisario’s main backer.
Morocco recalled Benyaich on Tuesday on the heels of the head of Spanish government Pedro Sánchez’s visit to the enclave of Ceuta following a mass irregular migration attempt from northern Morocco.
Bourita pushed back against Spanish media claims that stated Morocco willingly allowed nearly 6,000 migrants to enter the Spanish enclave. The foreign minister blamed the incident on the pressure placed upon Morocco’s police force as they are the primary entity responsible for enforcing COVID-19 measures.
Bourita underlined the “total inaction of the Spanish police” that allowed the migrants to disperse in Ceuta. According to Bourita, there are 100 Moroccan police officers manning the border for every Spanish officer.
The foreign minister condemned the ongoing slanderous media campaign targeting Morocco and its institutions. .
“We are witnessing an instrumentalization and mobilization of all the media with shocking and unacceptable terms sometimes coming from senior officials,”he said.
Spanish media has lashed out against the Moroccan government for the irregular migration incident, with most media accusing it of seeking to blackmail their country.
Bourita made it clear that the hospitalization of Ghali was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Spain has yet to offer a legitimate excuse for the double-dealing, other than “humanitarian reasons.”
For the time being, channels of communications between the two countries seem to have been broken. Experts believe the current diplomatic crisis, the most serious in two decades, may last for long and leave an indelible impact on the bilateral relations.
