Mohammed VI: his successes and challenges

Mohammed VI seems to have baraka, analyzes Pierre Vermeren in a column published in Sud Ouest. For the historian, the Moroccan Sovereign has managed to safeguard the interests of the throne and the kingdom, despite the multiple global economic crises, the most recent of which were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the terrorist threat, the conflict in the Sahara and the Hirak of the Rif.

In December 2020, Morocco achieved an important diplomatic coup by obtaining from the United States under Donald Trump the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara, in exchange for the normalization of its relations with Israel within the framework of the Abraham Accords. The Biden administration has not called this decision of its predecessor into question. In the same dynamic, Morocco has put pressure on Spain, the former colonial power of the Sahara, which has finally recognized its sovereignty over this territory, recalls the columnist.

Economically, Morocco has escaped a deep recession and has been able to catch up with its neighbors, Algeria and Tunisia in particular, thanks to the development of the tourism and industry sectors. But the level of development reached is still below the expectations of the Moroccan people for whom the future remains uncertain with violations of freedom of expression, particularly that of the press, the surveillance of social networks, etc.

On the international level, Morocco continues to maintain excellent relations with the world, despite the tensions with Paris that have persisted for ten years due to France’s ambiguous position on the Sahara and what the kingdom calls the Elysée’s "Algerian tropism". In recent years, Morocco has further strengthened its alliances with countries in Africa, the Gulf and Russia.