By car, it takes barely a quarter of an hour to reach the Elysée from the very chic 7th arrondissement of Paris, where the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI (nicknamed “M6”), has taken up residence for several weeks this year. , in his private mansion of 1,600 square meters at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. However, the monarch has not once crossed the steps of the presidential palace. His last tete-a-tete with Emmanuel Macron dates from 2018. An eternity in view of the privileged relationship that Paris and Rabat usually cultivate. More than 800,000 Moroccans live in France, 40,000 young people were studying there in 2021. And France, the first foreign investor in the country, is counting on the cooperation of its southern neighbor to fight against terrorism.
But with the youngest of the four French presidents known to “M6”, nothing happened as planned. Espionage case, immigration blackmail, diplomatic bickering… The two capitals have been engaged in an unprecedented cold war in recent months. Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat, scheduled for early 2023 – after his Minister of Foreign Affairs in mid-December – is supposed to start the thaw. However, it will take more than words to restore trust. Because, behind the scenes, a showdown is being played out between two leaders that everything opposes: “Between Emmanuel Macron and Mohammed VI, the current does not pass, but then not at all!, loose a French diplomat. On the one hand, a ‘intello think tanker’ accustomed to lectures; on the other, a passionate jet ski king who walks on affect. They have no hooked atom.”
The visas of anger
The first meeting was nevertheless worthy of a fairy tale. June 14, 2017: just elected, Emmanuel Macron flies to Rabat for a “private visit”. In the middle of Ramadan, his host reserves a family feast for him to break the fast in the agapanthus flower gardens of the royal palace. “The ftour, Ramadan meal that unites families”, comments on his social networks the young president. Back in Morocco, the following year, he inaugurated with his counterpart the first TGV in Africa linking Tangier to Casablanca, a pharaonic project for 2, 1 billion euros, from which French companies (SNCF, Alstom, Systra, Thales, etc.) have amply benefited.If the photo is beautiful, the express round trip by Emmanuel Macron, who only spent a few hours on place, ask.
Already at the time, a subject exasperated the Elysée: Rabat issued less than a third of the consular passes essential for the return of Moroccans in an irregular situation on French territory, on the pretext that its authorities could not certify their nationality. “The kingdom does not want to take back the poor and the mobsters”, squeaks Didier Leschi, director general of the Office of immigration and integration. Four years later, the situation has only gotten worse. “The French executive is under pressure from the police and the Ministry of the Interior, faced with increasing crime linked to hashish trafficking”, adds Pierre Vermeren, professor of history at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. , author of Morocco in 100 questions (Ed. Tallandier, 2020).
A poison named Pegasus
The Paris sanction falls in September 2021: the number of visas granted to Morocco will be halved. The French-speaking elite, which commutes regularly with France, is its first victim. Quickly, the diplomatic quarrel is coupled with a bitter anger within the affected populations. “This collective punishment is stupid and has aroused anti-French sentiment in Morocco”, plagues the goncouraged writer Tahar Ben Jelloun.
But the migration file hides a much more serious matter. In the summer of 2021, a consortium of journalists reveals that several states use the Israeli software Pegasus to spy on opponents and foreign leaders. The French president discovers the unthinkable: Moroccan security services have infiltrated his phone. Rabat categorically denies, but Emmanuel Macron did not digest the affront. “I have not forgiven Pegasus!”, he recently confided to an interlocutor. “France has never responded directly to this affair, a sign that it does not want to go into an irreparable clash, analyzes Fouad Abdelmoumni, economist and Moroccan human rights activist. His icy silence is however a warning to the kingdom. “
Especially since the case awakens old grudges. In February 2014, the French police rang the doorbell of the Moroccan ambassador in Neuilly-sur-Seine, believing to find Abdellatif Hammouchi, the head of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, passing through. The “first cop” of the kingdom is the subject of a complaint for torture filed by compatriots in France. He has already left the territory, but the incident throws a chill. “Security cooperation was frozen for a year, when the November 2015 attacks were being prepared, perpetrated largely by Belgian-Moroccan nationals,” recalls Pierre Vermeren.
Rabat and Paris had, of course, picked up the pieces when the attacks took place – François Hollande even officially thanked Mohammed VI for Morocco’s help in locating the leader of the commandos, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Nevertheless, the mistrust between spies from both shores of the Mediterranean never really disappeared. The Pegasus scandal, of which Hammouchi, who has become head of intelligence, is one of the key figures, has not helped.
Reinventing the “exceptional partnership”
Will this radioactive file be put on the table during Emmanuel Macron’s upcoming trip? The king may prefer to discuss other crucial subjects in his eyes, such as the recent rapprochement between France and Algeria, Morocco’s great rival courted for its gas… Or the sacred cause of Western Sahara, this territory claimed by Rabat and by the separatists of the Polisario Front, with the support of Algiers. Mohammed VI would like Paris to take up the cause of Morocco, like the United States and Spain. It would be a casus belli with Algeria. On the other hand, a compromise seems more likely on the migration file.
“It remains to reinvent the special relationship between the two countries by taking into account the weight of France as a world power and the ambitions of Morocco, a regional and continental power” pleads Abdessalam Jaldi, researcher at the Policy Center for the New South, a think tank linked to the kingdom. “This quarrel is not such bad news, suggests another analyst in Rabat. It is an opportunity for Morocco to cut the cord with the former colonial power and claim a partnership of equals.” Especially since the country has gained a new powerful ally: Israel. Since the “normalization” of their relations in December 2020, military and industrial cooperation agreements have been signed. They should allow Morocco to strengthen its export offer, for example to sub-Saharan Africa. The kingdom has already gained significant market share there in recent years, particularly in the banking sector, formerly dominated by French establishments.
In Paris, Morocco’s appetite for Africa is not to everyone’s taste, but we have to come to terms with this new deal, while preserving Franco-Moroccan economic cooperation. The Elysée is keen on it. Evidenced by the profile of its future ambassador in Rabat, Christophe Lecourtier, hitherto boss of Business France, the agency responsible for promoting the establishment of French companies abroad. The diplomat will have the delicate task of relaunching the “exceptional partnership” with Morocco.
“We will surely not return to a Franco-Moroccan idyll à la Chirac, but there are well-understood interests which will guide the thaw”, predicts Fouad Abdelmoumni. The large French companies present in Morocco, such as GDF Suez, partner of the royal holding company on many projects, will no doubt also be able to work for reconciliation…