La diplomacia marroquí se aleja del francés
Morocco remains annoyed with France's stance. Rabat believes that Paris's repeated rudeness on the Western Sahara dispute, the diplomatic rapprochement with Algeria and the recent approval by the European Parliament of a particularly critical resolution against the Alaouite kingdom, in addition to the visa issue, have strained the already strained bilateral relations, which are going through a delicate phase on the eve of a new visit to the Maghreb country by French President Emmanuel Macron, scheduled for the first quarter of this year.
Rabat has taken a series of reprisals against the ambiguity shown by French diplomacy on the Sahara issue. France, while recognising the Moroccan thesis as a basis for negotiations within the UN framework, has not shown the explicit support for Morocco that has been expressed by the US, Germany and more recently Spain. This is the reason that inflames Morocco, which failed to certify the French government's backing during the last visit of the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna.
Rabat's most forceful response has been to vacate the main seat of its embassy in Paris. At the end of January, King Mohamed VI put an end to the diplomatic mission of Mohamed Benchaâboun, the former Minister of Economy, Finance and Administrative Reform between 2018 and 2021, and since then the Kingdom's top representative in France. The expiry of his mandate came into effect on 19 January, the same day that the European Parliament adopted by a majority vote a resolution against Morocco for failing to respect human rights.
The latest intervention of the Minister Delegate for Investment, Mohcine Jazouli, has been interpreted by the Moroccan press as a new sign of retaliation against France. Jazouli was present earlier this week at the ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which took place in Paris, and spoke about Morocco's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
"We have adopted a national strategy for sustainable development and we are the first country outside the European Union to participate in the EU Green Deal. Our world is changing and we have to adapt. Uncertainty is at the heart of those changes: driving inflation, putting pressure on financing, lowering productivity and challenging existing value chains," the minister said. However, the most striking factor in his speech was his choice of language.
Instead of using French, Jazouli spoke in English. Moroccan diplomacy usually does so in Arabic and French, but is increasingly using English to mark the break with France.
