Warming of relations between Paris and Rabat

After a year marked by frosty relations, France and Morocco are multiplying signs of openness," writes the confidential letter Africa Intelligence on Wednesday. 

After a discreet mission from the Quai d'Orsay to Rabat in early November, a delegation from the French Ministry of the Interior is expected to visit the capital soon.

A delegation from the French Ministry of the Interior is expected in Rabat by the end of December. 

They are set to meet with the teams of the Moroccan Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, to discuss the revival of cooperation on migration issues. 

However, the discussions are expected to be limited to the technical level. Minister Gérald Darmanin, who recently visited Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is not expected to make the trip. 

Before the delegation from the Ministry, a mission from the Quai d'Orsay (French Ministy of Foreign Affairs) had already visited Rabat in early November. 

The delegation included Anne Grillo, Director for North Africa and the Middle East, Diego Colas, Director of Legal Affairs, and Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, Director of the UN Department.

The "Ms. North Africa" of the Quai d'Orsay was received by the Moroccan Foreign Minister himself, Nasser Bourita. 

Anne Grillo had worked with him when he was Chief of Staff to Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri (2007-2012) and she was the second counselor at the French Embassy in Rabat (2006-2010). 

Nothing has leaked from their meeting. 

The visit, conducted in a cordial atmosphere, aimed above all to re-establish official contacts between Paris and Rabat after several months of icy relations. 

On the other hand, Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen met with her counterpart from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Redouane Houssaini.

In mid-November, the Director of the French Development Agency (AFD), Rémy Rioux, exchanged views with Nasser Bourita as well as with the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui.

This gradual thaw in relations between Paris and Rabat was facilitated by a direct exchange between the Elysée and the Royal Palace at the end of the summer. 

However, the two countries remain cautious about a hypothetical official visit by Emmanuel Macron to Rabat. 

Originally planned almost a year ago, it has been constantly postponed, until it was suspended. 

At the end of October, the French president briefly met with Moroccan Deputy Minister in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, in Bastia, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Corsica. This visit was scheduled well in advance.

At the same time, France's permanent representative to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivière, reaffirmed, during the renewal of the mandate for the organization of a referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso) at the end of October, "France's historical, clear, and constant support for the Moroccan autonomy plan" for this territory. 

A message received with satisfaction by Morocco. 

Behind the scenes, the French ambassador to Rabat, Christophe Lecourtier, had actively argued for a clear statement to this effect for several weeks. He himself reaffirmed this support in mid-November on the national channel 2M.

After a difficult first year, Christophe Lecourtier, who personally bore the brunt of the spectacular deterioration of relations between Paris and Rabat, has been re-establishing contact with Moroccan officials since mid-August. 

This warming was inaugurated by a telephone interview with Nasser Bourita.

On the other hand, Rabat appointed a new ambassador to Paris on October 19, in the person of the former Franco-Moroccan journalist and communicator, Samira Sitail. 

The position had been vacant since January 2023.