Morocco Suspends Diplomatic Ties with Germany Amid ’Deep Misunderstandings’

Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, sent an official letter on Monday, March 1 to the head of government and other members of the government calling on them to suspend "any contact, interaction or action both with its embassy in Rabat and with German cooperation agencies and political foundations" due to deep misunderstandings with the Federal Republic of Germany on the fundamental issues of the kingdom. The government did not provide further explanation. Responding to a question from Médias24, a government source said the ministry’s decision was "clear". "It needs no comment."

For its part, Germany says it sees "no reason behind the disruption of diplomatic relations". In the wake of this, the Moroccan ambassador to Berlin was summoned for an urgent audience at the State Secretariat of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "We have invited the Moroccan ambassador to an emergency meeting with the State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry to clarify the events in Morocco," said Christofer Burger, spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, at a press conference.

For the Germans, everything is fine

"From our point of view, there is no reason to change diplomatic relations. Germany and Morocco have worked closely together for decades, which, in our view, is still in the interest of both countries," Burger said, adding that "in this respect, nothing has changed in German policy towards Morocco."

The points of friction remain Germany’s position on the Sahara, its interference in Morocco’s internal affairs, the exclusion of Rabat from negotiations on the future of Libya at a conference organized in Berlin in January 2020 and the recent Transparency International report on corruption.

Even if Nasser Bourita does not mention the private sector in his correspondence, this situation is likely to have a negative impact on businesses. In fact, each entrepreneur is currently reflecting on business decisions with government institutions. Will the economic agreements between the two countries be called into question or suffer? For now, it’s radio silence.