Morocco Accused of Influencing French Right’s Campaign Against 1968 Immigration Agreement

For many observers, the tensions between Morocco and France are far from over. Beyond the Pegasus spyware affair, there is the diplomatic option made by Emmanuel Macron, since his first term, to get closer to Algeria rather than Morocco, considered by his predecessors as France’s main ally in the Maghreb. A choice poorly perceived by the French right, and of course, poorly received by Rabat, reports TSA Algérie.

On several occasions, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has denounced the "lobbies" working to create tensions between Paris and Algiers. Morocco has used immigration as a means of pressure on Spain to get it to change its position of neutrality on the Sahara. With France, on the other hand, this Moroccan policy could not prosper due to the geographical position of the two countries, it is indicated, specifying that moreover, the Sahara issue arouses little interest in French politics.

During a visit to Morocco in May, Eric Ciotti, president of the Republicans (LR), accompanied by the Franco-Algerian-Moroccan Rachida Dati, pleaded for France’s recognition of Morocco’s "sovereignty" over the Sahara. Upon his return from Rabat, Ciotti followed in the footsteps of the far right to demand the revocation of the 1968 Franco-Algerian agreement on immigration. If Morocco is not behind this campaign against the said agreement, it at least benefits from it, it is estimated.

"Waving this red rag is a way of annoying Emmanuel Macron at little cost, who has made reconciliation with Algeria a strong point of his presidency," analyzes in L’Express, Pierre Vermeren, professor at the Sorbonne and author of Histoire de l’Algérie contemporaine. The revocation of the 1968 agreement would lead to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Algeria and France, warns Xavier Driencourt, former French ambassador to Algeria.