The diplomatic crisis between Paris and Rabat continues. The visit to Morocco by French President Emmanuel Macron, planned according to certain sources in France for February, is the subject of a new postponement or even cancellation, and the adoption of a new resolution by the European Parliament against the Morocco, has only fueled and deepened tensions.
In recent weeks, relations between France and Morocco have deteriorated firstly due to the adoption by the European Parliament of a non-binding resolution in January condemning the Kingdom, in particular with regard to the situation of human rights. rights and freedom of expression, in addition to the adoption of a new resolution hostile to Morocco on Thursday 16 February.
The postponement of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Morocco should give the two parties time to deepen discussions and discuss mutual expectations to find the best way out of a very tense crisis that has been going on for several months.
That said, the official date of the French president’s visit to Morocco has still not been fixed, while the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, had raised the possibility of an arrival of the French president in the Kingdom during the first quarter of this year. But according to the newspaper THE World there would be nothing tangible at the moment.
Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for Prospective and Security in Europe (IPSE), notes in a statement to MoroccoLatestNewsthat ” relations between Paris and Rabat have gradually deteriorated due to mutual misunderstanding”.
The head of the IPSE, which specializes in European security and international relations issues, says that “ the reason for this whole crisis is the conviction of decision-making circles in Paris that Morocco was going to use the Pegasus program, which is marketed by the Israeli company NSO, to assess and influence France’s position on the Sahara issue “.
The analyst, who held the position of senior political adviser to the French forces in Afghanistan, points out that “ breaking up will not be the solution for Paris “, emphasizing that to explain the current gap in diplomatic relations between France and Morocco, we must return to the “mutual accusations since 2021”.
The expert in strategic affairs dwelt on the probable reasons which led to the deterioration of bilateral relations, linking this to the hypothetical rapprochement between France and Algeria, which according to him will not have the slightest result, as well as the expanded geopolitical balance, thus considering that “ Morocco’s rapprochement with the USA, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in the light of the Abraham Accords, on the one hand, and Spain on the other, regarding the Sahara, has pushed the Kingdom has asked Paris to clarify its position ».
Thus, Emmanuel Dupuy recognized that ” France’s position on the current situation in the Sahara, particularly with regard to the autonomy status proposed in 2007, has become unacceptable for Morocco”stating that “ the ambiguity as to the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara will not be dispelled by the appointment of Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier in Rabat, and that the visit of the French President to Morocco will not contribute to removing this ambiguity in the short term “.
” The relationship between France and Morocco is currently experiencing strong turbulence, and yet the coming months can improve bilateral relations “, confided the expert to MoroccoLatestNewsemphasizing that “ the question of the possible future presidency of the African Union in 2024 by Morocco, as well as the Council of the European Union by Spain (the second half of 2023) then Belgium (the first half of 2024), oblige the two parties to pay attention to their relationship, and the same applies to cooperation in the fight against terrorism, as well as in matters of immigration “.