King Mohammed VI visits France

Since Friday, King Mohammed VI has been on a private visit to Paris. He will most likely stay at the Château de Betz located in the Oise, one of his secondary residences or his townhouse on Avenue Emile Deschanel.

While the agenda of this visit has not been disclosed, the sovereign’s trip suggests that the Rabat-Paris axis could be strengthened. For years, Morocco has been awaiting France’s recognition of its sovereignty over the Sahara. A subject on which Emmanuel Macron has remained undecided despite the many calls from French politicians, such as former president Nicolas Sarkozy and Eric Ciotti, the president of the LR party.

But aware of the deterioration of relations between the two countries in particular and the Maghreb in general, the French president estimated, during the Conference of Ambassadors and Ambassadors, that it was time to "rethink very deeply" France’s partnership with Morocco and the rest of the Maghreb and the Mediterranean.

"Let’s be lucid, bilateral relations are not at the level they should be, I won’t here (re)summon each one, but with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, but also the countries of the Middle East," declared Emmanuel Macron, stressing that it is not however a "lack of commitment with many of them". "We will take several bilateral initiatives," he announced, hoping "that by the end of the year, under the authority of the minister, an intergovernmental relaunch agenda with the entire region or more broadly will be consolidated."