French Newspaper: The Diplomatic Tones Between Rabat and Madrid Are Over
A French newspaper reported that the Moroccan Foreign Ministry accused Spain of “Conspiring with the enemies of the kingdom". This is in connection with the Morocco-Spain immigrant crisis. "La Croix" newspaper added, "This open crisis between the two countries related to the future of Western Sahara will influence the migration movement."
On May 31, 2021, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Madrid's "Hostile stances" and "Detrimental strategies."
Strongly Worded Message
The French newspaper articulated, "The diplomatic tones are no longer priming the talks between Morocco and Spain, as Rabat has lashed out angrily at Madrid."
The writer pointed out that "Sahrawi separatist leader Ibrahim Ghali returned on June 1, 2021 to Algeria after being hospitalized on April 21 in Spain."
"His return did not in any way calm the anger of the Kingdom of Morocco, which described the leader of the Polisario Front as criminal through the website (Le 360) close to the palace: He left free without charges. The Spanish court interrogated him over a complaint of torture and genocide, then released him".
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nader Bourita wonders, "How could Rabat guarantee that Spain will not conspire again with the kingdom's enemies?" He reminded, "The Western Sahara - which Morocco has always considered Moroccan- is a sacred cause for the entire Moroccan people."
The relationship between Rabat and Madrid is encountering a big crisis. The conflict started when Spain hosted “Ghali” to be cured from the Corona virus with a “false identity”, since April 21, 2021. In addition to the influx of about 8,000 irregular migrants between May 17 and 20, 2021 From Morocco to Ceuta, which is under Spanish authority.
To show its anger, Morocco responded by striking the nerve of “Immigration”. Thus, Morocco allowed more than 8,000 migrants - many of them minors - to cross the border “Illegally” to Ceuta in northern Morocco.
On June 1, 2021, a spokeswoman for the European Commission's External Action Service, Nabila Masrali, expressed the Commission's displeasure by saying that "The borders of Ceuta are European borders and the European Union stands in solidarity with Spain."
"In light of the current crisis, a political reinterpretation is needed for the influx of 20,000 migrants to the Canary Islands last fall, in the midst of the ceasefire in Western Sahara," said political expert Izias Parinada of the Complutense University of Madrid.
On November 13, 2020, Morocco launched a military operation to restore traffic between Morocco and Mauritania, which was closed by militants from the "Polisario" Front.
Thus, the crisis "Is not an immigration crisis, and Morocco does not ask questions about the European policy of outsourcing, and it always says that it is ready to cooperate as it has always been," according to "Lacroix".
Coalition Prone to Collapse
Irene Fernandez Molina, professor of political science at Britain's University of Exeter stated, "On the other hand, Morocco had the idea that its cooperation with the European Union in border control should be rewarded."
She added, "From Morocco's point of view, Madrid should side with former US President Donald Trump, who gave the green light to Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara at the end of 2020, in exchange for the latter's normalization with Israel."
The newspaper pointed out “there are two matters of great importance to the Kingdom. The first one is the unknown position of the administration of President Joe Biden. The second is the readiness of Moroccan to impose the policy of the status quo if the European Union Court – in the coming weeks – questions the legitimacy of the trade agreements between the European Union and Morocco, which includes the lands and waters of the Sahara.
It stated "95 percent of Moroccan fishing activities come from desert waters."
In 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union argued that Morocco and Western Sahara were separate territories, but the requirement of the Sahrawi people's prior consent to re-ratify the agreements was bypassed.
Gil Devers attested that “Since 2016, Morocco has lost a lot of allies: Belgium, Germany and Portugal who did not come this time to defend these agreements."
Since Spain ended its presence in the Sahara region in 1975, Rabat and the "Polisario" have disputed sovereignty over the territory currently under Moroccan control.
Rabat insists on its right to the territory of the Sahara, and proposes expanded autonomy under its sovereignty, while the "Polisario" demands the organization of a referendum for self-determination, a proposal supported by Algeria, which hosts refugees from the region.
