Morocco’s King to Visit France: Historic Thaw in Relations After Sahara Breakthrough

Beyond a simple visit, this trip by the King of Morocco would mark the culmination of the process of normalizing relations between Rabat and Paris, after a long diplomatic crisis, with the issue of the Sahara and visas as a backdrop. It would also reflect the common desire of the two countries to turn the page on tensions and start anew, analyzes the magazine.

Morocco and France will continue to strengthen their ties in the coming months. A meeting of the Franco-Moroccan joint committee is scheduled for the fall, under the chairmanship of the heads of government of the two countries. The joint group on migration will meet soon in Paris, and the Moroccan Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, is also announced to be visiting Paris.

Symbolic gestures are also being recorded. This is the case of the invitation of Brigitte Macron to sit on the board of the Foundation of the Royal Theater of Rabat, the joint appearance of Princess Lalla Hasnaa and President Emmanuel Macron at a summit on the ocean, or the announcement of the opening of a French consulate in the city of Laâyoune, in the Moroccan Sahara.

For observers, the diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Paris ended on July 30, 2024, the date on which Emmanuel Macron, in an official letter addressed to King Mohammed VI, expressed France’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara, considered as "the serious and unique basis" for resolving this conflict.

"This French recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara was the sine qua non condition for Rabat to fully resume relations," says an expert. French diplomatic sources say that "the rupture has revealed Rabat’s ability to do without Paris when necessary, while highlighting France’s delay in apprehending the new power dynamics" in the Sahel, the Mediterranean basin and Europe.