Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya propose new regional bloc amidst exclusion controversy

On Monday, Tunisian President Kais Saied will host a landmark consultative meeting in Tunis with Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Libyan Presidential Council head, Mohammad al-Menfi.

The meeting was aimed at discussing the formation of a potential new Maghreb bloc, signaling a significant step towards regional integration.

Notably absent from the meeting, Morocco and Mauritania, both integral members of the Maghreb region.

This exclusion has sparked discussions about the implications for regional unity and the existing political dynamics, especially given the historical tensions between Morocco and Algeria, primarily over the Western Sahara conflict.

The leaders of Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya decided to hold tripartite Maghrebi meetings every three months during a sideline meeting at a gas summit in Algiers earlier in March. Their joint communiqué highlighted the need to "unify and intensify efforts to meet economic and security challenges" in the interests of their peoples. This initiative suggests a proactive approach to tackle shared regional issues outside of the longstanding but dormant Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), which was established in 1989 but has been inactive since the last summit in 1994.

Moroccan media outlets like Hespress and Le360 have criticized the initiative, accusing Algeria of trying to form a Maghrebi alliance against Morocco, their regional rival. This has added another layer of complexity to the already strained relations between Morocco and Algeria.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf defended the initiative, stating it aims to fill the void left by the inactive UMA. President Tebboune, in a television interview, emphasized that the new bloc is not directed against any state and that the door remains open to all regional countries, including Morocco.