The turnover of the Government of Pedro Sanchez on Western Sahara, which allowed reconciliation, is strongly criticized.
by and
In visit to Morocco, Thursday, April 7, the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, was received in great pomp, first by his counterpart, Aziz Akhannouch, then at the Royal Palace, in Rabat, where King Mohammed VI invited him to an Iftar in his honor, the meal that closes the breaking of fasting at nightfall during Ramadan. An undeniable goste of friendship, in the eyes of Moroccans, which had been benefited from eight years earlier, the King of Spain, Felipe VI.
After more than ten months of diplomatic crisis, it was a question of staging the reconciliation and the beginning of a “new stage” relations between Morocco and Spain, according to the joint declaration adopted at the end of the encounter. This turnaround, that the two countries had previously appealed by their interim communicated vows, has resulted in first concrete measures, at the forefront of which the “immediate and progressive” opening of maritime borders, closed in March 2020, officially for Cause of Pandemic of Covid-19. This interruption had been prolonged by Morocco in the heart of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries in the spring of 2021. The announcement should meet the expectations of some three million Moroccans living abroad who returned to their country during the summer season, Traditionally by borrowing maritime links with Spain, but also port and tourist operators, asphyxiated by this closure.
Other measures are expected as part of the “Roadmap” established in Rabat: Resumption of discussions on the delimitation of territorial waters, strengthened migration cooperation, facilitation of economic exchanges – while Spain is Morocco’s first trading partner – or energy cooperation after closing, by Algiers, the Maghreb-Europe pipeline.
For Madrid, the price of this standardization is high: the end of its neutrality on the thorny file of the territory disputed from Western Sahara. This former Spanish colony, controlled at more than 80% by Morocco, is considered a “non-autonomous” territory by the UN. The independence of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, claim a referendum of self-determination. And, for forty-seven years, his fate poisons the relationship between the three countries.
You have 59.71% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.