French Interior Minister woes Morocco over security
France’s Interior Minister plans to visit Morocco during April as both countries move past their two-year dispute, reports The New Arab Plus agencies.
French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin’s visit comes two months after Paris and Rabat officially resolved their diplomatic rift over Western Sahara.
READ: Dynamics of Moroccan-French Diplomatic breakdowns
“On Monday, 22 April, the French Minister of the Interior will be received by his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, for one-on-one discussions before the two parties hold an expanded working session covering various subjects of common interest,” local media reported on 10th of April.
During his visit, Darmanian is set to tackle issues such as terrorism, migration and potential security cooperation in the Paris Olympic Games, set to take place in July 2024.
In 2007, Morocco presented its autonomy plan for the Western Sahara territory. The plan was designed to allow Saharawis to govern their affairs “democratically” through legislative, executive and judicial bodies, while Morocco retains control over defence and foreign relations.
The Moroccan Monarch displayed his firm position on the Western Sahara dispute, repeatedly saying that he won’t accept any solution outside the framework of its proposed autonomy plan.
While the UN supported the plan, Algeria and the Polisario Front separatist movement have rejected Rabat’s proposal thus far.
Paris has refrained from taking a clear position on the conflict, though they initially supported Rabat’s autonomy plan in 2007. Instead, it has prioritised efforts to improve relations with Algeria, a longstanding adversary of Rabat and a vital supporter of the Polisario Front.
During his visit to Rabat in February, Stéphane Séjourné, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, announced from Rabat that his country supported Morocco’s autonomy plan in the southern provinces.
Séjourné’s visit marked a French official’s first visit to the North African Kingdom in two years, signalling the end of Paris’ ambiguity on the disputed territory. He reiterated that it was time for France to move forward on this issue.
France’s foreign Trade Minister, Franck Reister visited Morocco from from the 3rd-5th of April. During his visit, he made known France’s intentions to use the French Development Agency (AFD) to fund a project that links Dakhla, Western Sahara’s capital and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca with a high-voltage power line via its private sector financing arm Proparco.
Paris is encouraging French investors to explore opportunities in the territory confirmed a report by Africa Intelligence.
The news dealt a new blow to the Algerian-backed Polisario front separatists who called the move a “provocative” step on April 7th. They stated that “this is a dangerous escalation of France’s hostile stance towards the Sahrawi people.”
READ: Western Sahara: Algerians feel the heat over French power lines
“France’s plan represents explicit support for Morocco’s illegal occupation of parts of Western Sahara,” concluded the source.
The New Arab/ Agencies
