Morocco’s King Plays Crucial Role in Freeing French Agents from Burkina Faso

As soon as their release was announced, French President Emmanuel Macron hastened to "warmly thank" the Moroccan sovereign for his "decisive" intervention in this thorny case, recalls Paris Match. It must be said that this affair, which has been going on since December 2023, was putting the DGSE (French Directorate General of External Security) in an embarrassing situation.

While relations between France and Burkina Faso have deteriorated since the arrival to power of junta leader Ibrahim Traoré in 2022, Morocco, for its part, has forged strong ties with this country.

In 25 years of reign, the King of Morocco has multiplied official visits (42 African countries out of 54) and bilateral agreements (more than 1,500). A field diplomacy that has allowed him to build relationships of trust with his African counterparts.

If this release is a success for Morocco, it also marks a strategic rapprochement between Paris and Rabat, initiated during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Morocco in October.

In Mohammed VI’s entourage, this act is described as "humanitarian". Nonetheless, Morocco is asserting itself as an indispensable player in the stability of West Africa, a region where French influence is waning.