Morocco Urges France to Recognize Sahara Sovereignty Amid Diplomatic Tensions

France and Morocco are going through a major diplomatic crisis since 2021, the year in which the French authorities decided to halve the number of visas granted to Moroccan citizens. To this was added the Pegasus affair. Rabat is suspected of having spied on several French politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron, using this Israeli software.

Currently, diplomatic relations between the two countries are so tense that Rabat has recalled its ambassador to Paris and left the post vacant, recalls Atalayar. The crisis has intensified with the European Parliament resolution denouncing press freedom violations in Morocco, considered by Rabat as a plot by the president’s party’s MEPs, and Paris’ rapprochement with Algiers.

For years, Morocco has been waiting for France to recognize its sovereignty over the Sahara, as the United States, Germany, Spain and now Israel have already done. Rabat blames Paris for its "ambiguous" position on this sensitive issue. "France’s position is important, because the European position depends on it. So we can expect more pressure from Rabat on Paris," analyzes Aziz Boucetta of the media Panorapost.

For its part, Paris believes it has a "clear and consistent" position on this issue, always advocating for a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council". At the same time, France considers the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as "serious and credible", as Christophe Lecourtier, the French ambassador to Rabat, recently stressed.