Macron visits former French colony after years of tension

The president’s trip to Morocco comes months after Paris reversed its stance and backed Rabat’s claim to the disputed Western Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Morocco on Monday for a three-day visit, during which he is expected to meet with the North African country’s monarch and sign several agreements. The trip follows years of strained relations between the two countries.

The state visit represents “new ambitions for the next 30 years” for the France-Morocco relationship, Macron’s office said in a statement cited by AFP.

“This visit reflects the depth of bilateral relations, based on a deep-rooted and solid partnership, thanks to the common desire of the two heads of state to strengthen the multidimensional ties uniting the two countries,” the Moroccan royal palace also announced earlier.

Late in July, Moroccan King Mohammed VI extended an invitation to Macron after the French president reversed his country’s decades-long diplomatic stance and endorsed Rabat’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

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Rabat and the Sahrawi separatist group Polisario Front have been at war since 1975, when Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony. The Algerian-backed group is demanding a self-determination referendum, as a previous one proposed by the UN in 1991 as part of a ceasefire process has been stalled. However, Rabat has ruled out the possibility of a vote that would grant independence to one of Africa’s most sparsely populated regions.

Macron’s decision supporting Morocco’s sovereignty claim over Western Sahara has improved ties between his government and Rabat while upsetting neighboring Algeria. Algiers, which has long advocated for UN-organized referendums, said the French move had undermined UN efforts to resolve the territorial dispute via political means. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune canceled an official visit to France earlier this month, after previously recalling the country’s ambassador to Paris amid deteriorating relations.

Relations between Paris and Rabat had previously been strained, in part due to the French government’s longstanding neutrality on the Western Sahara issue, as well as a disagreement over visas in 2021. Last year, French Foreign Minister Catherina Colonna downplayed diplomatic tensions with Morocco, despite the former colony’s refusal to accept French assistance in dealing with a deadly earthquake. Morocco also denied Colonna’s claims that Macron had planned to visit the former colony that year.

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This week’s trip by the French President, his second since 2018, has been hailed by Moroccan media as a “warm reunion” between Paris and Rabat.

The Moroccan Press Agency published a government press release announcing that Macron is scheduled to deliver a speech to the African nation’s parliament on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Algeria commemorates independence activists killed in Paris

During a private meeting, King Mohammed VI and Macron will discuss partnerships in trade, energy, education, climate change, immigration, and security, French media reported.

Morocco has the potential to be a “hub between Europe and Africa,” both strategically and in terms of infrastructure, particularly electricity, Macron’s office said, according to the AFP.