Morocco Bolsters Border Defenses Amid Rising Tensions with Algeria

The tension between Algeria and Morocco could escalate with the return to power of Donald Trump in the United States, a privileged partner of the kingdom. The border between the two neighbors has been closed for 25 years. In anticipation of a possible armed attack by Algeria, the Moroccan authorities have announced the strengthening of border surveillance with this neighboring country. "The surveillance of our borders is one of the main concerns of our armed forces," said Abdelatif Loudiyi, the Moroccan Minister of Defense, during the presentation of his department’s 2025 budget to parliament on Friday.

Morocco and Algeria have been engaged in an arms race for more than a decade. With a military budget of 24 billion euros for 2025, Algeria is the country with the highest military spending in Africa. Morocco comes in second with a military budget of 12 billion euros for 2025, reports El Pais, noting that these budgets have increased by more than 7% compared to the previous year and represent about 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of each of the two rival countries.

This rearmament threatens economic development, as well as the peace and stability of the region. "This significant increase underlines Morocco’s strategic choice to strengthen the defense capabilities of its armed forces in an increasingly unstable regional and international context," analyzes military expert Nizar Derdabi for TelQuel, referring to the terrorist threats from the Sahel and those of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria in the conflict in the Sahara.

In his speech on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the Green March in early November, King Mohammed VI invited Algeria, without naming it directly, to abandon the destabilization maneuvers of those who "seek an outlet to the Atlantic." A week later, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, in an address to parliament, warned against the presence of "signs of escalation [of the war] coming from Algeria, with an apparent willingness to move from the current regional conflict to a direct confrontation." Meanwhile, the "low-intensity" war continues in the Sahara. Morocco recently announced that it had killed seven Sahrawi militiamen during drone attacks in retaliation for armed actions by the Polisario.