The France-Morocco friendship group of the French Senate was surprised on Monday by the vote of deputies close to the French presidential majority against Morocco in the recent European Parliament resolution on freedom of the press in Morocco.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the French Senate and Chairman of the France-Morocco Friendship Group in the Senate, Christian Cambon, reacted to the European Parliament resolution on freedom of the press in Morocco, voted by French deputies of the presidential majority, while the deputies of the RN of Marine Le Pen, voted against this resolution.
This vote surprised Christian Cambon, who protested in a press release about this vote of the French deputies “although close to the Majority (who) prefer to join their voices to the usual adversaries of Morocco”. with astonishment at the vote by the European Parliament of a resolution condemning the deterioration of press freedom in Morocco” and criticized those who voted for the resolution.
“Quick to give lessons, they seem to appreciate the situation of human rights and the press in the Maghreb with a lot of bias, far from reality,” he said, referring to the much more worrying situation in Algeria, which does not cause any of these parties to react strangely.
The president of the France-Morocco friendship group in the Senate, taking to task the French deputies who voted for this resolution against Morocco, reminded them “that the President of the Republic (Emmanuel Macron), the Government and the Ambassador of France are trying to give a new impetus to the Franco-Moroccan relationship”, telling them that what they have done is counterproductive.
For its part, the France-Morocco friendship group of the Senate, he said, “renews its unconditional attachment to freedom of the press in all countries, without any exception. He will continue to work to strengthen relations with Morocco, which in all areas remains our most faithful partner and ally in the service of peace in this region of the world”.
Christian Cambon’s reaction comes almost a month after the vote on the resolution in the European Parliament, and a few days after the public announcement of the end of the mission of Morocco’s ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Benchaaboun (the same day of vote on the resolution), previously recalled to lead the Mohammed VI Fund.
Before the press release by the president of the France Morocco Friendship Group in the Senate, the president of the Morocco-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission, Lahcen Haddad, had directly accused the French MEP Stéphane Sejourné, president of the Renew Europe group, and close to the president. French, to have been the main actor in the condemnation of Morocco within the European Parliament.