Former Algerian Minister: France Could Resolve Morocco-Algeria Tensions

"France had the necessary weight to resolve the Western Sahara problem at its birth, before it took on the complexity that characterizes it today where the bill for a solution will be heavier to pay than between 1975 and 1979. It did not do so, because it did not want a new state in the Maghreb," said Noureddine Boukrouh in an interview with Sputnik.

According to him, it is very unlikely that a risk of war would come from either of the two countries, as they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. "However, in light of the new balances and geostrategic power struggles in the region, particularly between the United States and Israel on the one hand, and Europe, including France, on the other, the risk of sliding towards a military conflict is possible," analyzes the political analyst.

For the former Algerian minister, France could play a decisive role not only in unblocking the situation but also in definitively resolving the Sahara conflict, which is blocking the construction of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA). He will recall that the country of Emmanuel Macron "has a share of responsibility in what happened in Western Sahara between 1975 and 1979 where it was an actor, and consequently in the state of relations between Algeria and Morocco."

"Having been a stakeholder, it could contribute to the search for a regional solution. A destabilized, ruined and warring Maghreb will not benefit it at all," concludes the analyst.