French President Emmanuel Macron will head to Morocco next week for a three-day state visit, the Moroccan royal palace said Monday, following years of strained relations.
The visit reflects the depth of bilateral relations based on a deep-rooted and solid partnership, thanks to the common desire of the two Heads of State to strengthen the multidimensional ties uniting the two countries, the Moroccan royal palace said in a statement.
The monarch has described the visit as an opportunity for "a renewed and ambitious vision covering several strategic sectors".
It will be Macron's second since 2018.
Tensions
Tensions between Paris and Rabat have risen in recent years for a number of reasons including France's ambiguous stance on the disputed Western Sahara and also because of Macron's attempts at rapprochement with Algeria.
A statement by the European Parliament in 2023 condemning a rollback in the kingdom's freedom of the press also ramped up tensions, with some blaming Paris.
The two countries were also at odds after France in 2021 halved the number of visas it granted to Moroccans, a decision revoked the following year.
Macron in July initiated efforts to ease tensions with Rabat, saying at the time that Morocco's autonomy plan for the territory was the "only basis" to resolve the decades-old conflict.
"The present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty," Macron said in a statement.
France's diplomatic turnabout had been long awaited by Morocco, whose annexation of Western Sahara had already been recognised by the United States in return for Rabat's normalising ties with Israel in 2020.
Morocco's king praises French support, diplomatic gains over status of Western Sahara
But the statement, made during the Olympic Games, didn't please Sahrawis, Algeria, or the United Nations.
While Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is largely controlled by Morocco, it is also claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which in 2020 declared a "self-defence war" and seeks the territory's independence.
The UN considers Western Sahara a "non-self-governing territory" and has had a peacekeeping mission there since 1991. Its stated aim is to organise a referendum on the territory's future.
But Rabat has repeatedly rejected any vote in which independence is an option.
After Macron's statement endorsing Morocco's autonomy plan, the Polisario Front and Algeria promptly withdrew their ambassadors from Paris and have yet to replace them.
Algeria recalls ambassador after France backs Moroccan plan for Western Sahara
Economic ties
The Moroccan monarch has also called the visit an opportunity for “a renewed and ambitious vision covering several strategic sectors”.
Rabat and Paris are old partners and now hope to pave the way for renewed economic deals, including in Western Sahara.
French engineering company Egis is set to extend the high-speed rail line between the Moroccan cities of Kenitra and Marrakesh.
In Western Sahara, French energy company Engie has been contracted to build a water desalination plant and a wind farm.
(with AFP)
