THEMorocco is disappointed. Moroccans do not understand French policy in the Maghreb. They follow the electoral campaign with interest and capture the various French channels. They do not understand that Tunisia is left to its fate or that the Algerian people do not receive encouragement in their dignified and peaceful struggle against the military junta which is gagging them. The history of visas (the consulates were ordered to halve the issuance of visas to enter France) is absurd. Thus, truckers serving Europe are stranded and find themselves unemployed. Businessmen, students or simple tourists are prevented from going to France. Since Monday, November 29, all Moroccan borders have been closed for at least two weeks. This is not a response to the undiplomatic manner in which Secretary of State for Commerce Franck Riester, visiting Morocco, repeated that the decision to issue fewer visas will be upheld. No, Morocco wants to protect itself from the new variant.
Moroccan consulates do not refuse to take back illegal immigrants. “They accept them when they are Moroccan. However, these illegal immigrants, without documents, are not all Moroccan. The Interior Ministry does not differentiate between Tunisians, Algerians and Moroccans. A Moroccan consulate cannot repatriate Algerians or Tunisians. The dispute arises from there. France’s reaction: everyone is being punished! This is the explanation given to me by a senior official at the Moroccan embassy in France. This way of doing things is new. It is not very coherent and that means that the current power does not know well the Maghrebian susceptibility. Let’s say that Macron has no Maghrebian or Arab sensitivity, unless the sale of 80 Rafale planes to the Arab Emirates (a record in the history of the Ve Republic) does not make it more attentive to the Arab world in its diversity and complexity.
France reacted badly
The influence of French culture is going through a bad time. More and more students are enrolling in the British Council to learn English. Families who have the means prefer to send their children to study in the United States, England or Canada. Billboards are written entirely in English. There is a setback and also a bad mood. Is it a disenchantment? French policy in the region is dominated by the guilt exerted by the Algerian regime on France. After the courageous observation about the Algerian regime’s “memorial rent”, Macron tried to ease the tension between the two countries. The Algerian ambassador to France will probably resume his post very soon.
We know that the dissemination, last summer, of the hypothesis that Morocco would have made Macron and other personalities of his government listen to him provoked great anger among the president. Morocco has denied it and has sued for defamation and spreading false news to those behind the scandal. He pleads this Monday before the Paris court on the admissibility of his complaints against the investigative consortium Forbiden Stories, the NGO Amnesty International and several press organs, including The world and Mediapart. He absolutely denies the mass espionage with which he is accused. Nevertheless, France reacted badly. This wiretapping affair highlighting Morocco in particular when we learn belatedly that several EU countries, including Germany, are using Pegasus, has been cleverly used by the European media to attack the kingdom, which has perceived this as a media campaign intended to harm him on all fronts.
I don’t know if the two heads of state spoke to each other. The point is that France’s policy towards Morocco has changed. Let us say that this country, which has always benefited from privileged relations, today finds itself treated with a certain lukewarmness, especially since the Abrahamic accords, in which France played no role. It is incapable of doing anything that could upset the Algerian leaders, who keep pestering and accusing Morocco of having installed “the Zionist entity” on its borders. The Algerian military junta calls for war and refuses any outstretched hand from Morocco. She believes that by attacking Morocco, she will solve the serious problems that the demonstrators have posed for more than two years. The history of visas is only one aspect of the Elysée’s bad mood. Morocco has started to look elsewhere and to diversify its trade relations. Apparently, the kingdom is starting to no longer be focused on France and the French-speaking world. Private radio broadcasts have picked up on this trend by organizing debates to try to understand why Moroccans are gradually breaking away from the French sphere. This is a significant sign.
