Tensions rise between Morocco and Germany
This week, the ongoing tensions between Morocco and Germany have reached a new level, after Morocco took exception to Berlin's stance on its claims to the Western Sahara. Last Thursday, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry recalled their ambassador, Zohour Alaoui, and published a list of allegations against the German government. "This kind of pressure is unprecedented," Dr Maria Josua, research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, told DW on the phone.
After months of growing tensions, which led to freezing
relations with the German Embassy in Rabat in March, the Moroccan Foreign
Ministry has now — much to Berlin's surprise —
concluded that Germany has been exacerbating "hostile acts that are
detrimental to the higher interests of the Kingdom of Morocco." From
Berlin's point of view, there is "no basis for these kinds of
allegations," Maria Adebahr, spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry,
told DW.
While Rabat appears to have three main issues with Germany
at the moment, the most pressing appears to be the control of the Western
Sahara territory. The other two points of criticism include dismay that Morocco
hadn't been invited to a conference on Libya in Berlin, and that Germany hasn't
tried to silence or expel Duisburg-based Moroccan social media activist
Mohammed Hajib.
Former US President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's
sovereignty over the long-disputed territory, for which the Algeria-allied
Polisario Front has been seeking independence. The German government — despite
welcoming the normalization of Israel's and Morocco's ties — criticized the
move and repeated this Friday that its "position on the conflict
concerning the Western Sahara remains unchanged."
Despite some changes, such as increasing the role of women
in public life, the Kingdom of Morocco is still known for three public taboos:
Questioning the country's territorial integrity, criticism of King Mohammed VI,
and speaking out against Islam.
"From the point of view of the Moroccan government,
Germany's summoning a session in the UN Security Council on the question of the
Western Sahara broke the first of these three political taboos," Kressen
Thyen, an expert on the region and researcher at the University of Bremen, told
DW by phone.
What is remarkable is that this week's recall of the
ambassador to Berlin coincided with a speech by Morocco's Foreign Minister
Nasser Bourita at an online conference of AIPAC, America's largest pro-Israel
lobby. There, Bourita emphasized the importance of maintaining the recent
US-Israel-Moroccan deal in which the US became the first Western government to
support Morocco’s contested claim over the Western Sahara in exchange for
Morocco normalizing its diplomatic relations with Israel.
His appearance might be of strategic relevance as it is
highly likely, though not yet officially confirmed, that the Biden
administration will not revoke the deal made under its predecessor.
"The US is still supporting autonomy of the Western
Sahara and are pushing for new negotiations in this regard," Thyen said.
If the US insisted on this, other states and the UN Security Council might
follow suit.
"Obviously, Morocco is not very interested in new
negotiations at this stage given the current escalation of the conflict with
the Polisario," the analyst said.
Further criticism
Experts agree that the two other points of criticism are of
less significance than the first. However, Rabat did point out that the kingdom
hadn't been invited to a Berlin-based conference on Libya last January, despite
being one of the negotiators between the opposing parties.
"Germany exhibits a continued determination to counter
Morocco's regional influence, particularly on the Libyan issue, by attempting
to improperly exclude the Kingdom from a number of regional meetings devoted to
resolving this issue such as the one held in Berlin," Morocco's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
So far, Germany hasn't addressed this publicly.
The third bone of contention was Germany's relaxed attitude
to the Duisburg-based Moroccan YouTube activist Mohammed Hajib, 39, who has
been publishing critical clips in Arabic on this YouTube channel with 36,000
followers. Morocco has been seeking support from the German government in
clamping down on Hajib and even issued an international arrest warrant which
was later cancelled by Interpol.
"The Moroccan government considers Hajib's clips a
major threat as he is able to make his points of view available to a large
public, which could eventually lead to mobilization in Morocco," Josua
told DW.
While it is not uncommon for Morocco to try to silence
activists abroad, "this kind of pressure on the German government is
remarkable," the analyst concludes.
Mutual interests outweigh escalation
"Morocco's behavior is more of a symbolic warning shot
for Germany," said Thyen. In other words, it is most likely that mutual
bilateral interest in the future should remain unaffected by this escalation.
"Germany is an important partner when it comes to
trade, money and development aid, and Morocco is a major partner on the topic
of migration via the Mediterranean Sea for Germany," she said. This would
be enough reason for both countries to resume bilateral relations in the near
future.
This conclusion is echoed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in Berlin: "From our point of view, it is in the interest of both
countries to continue their broad level of diplomatic relations." As of
Friday evening, Adebahr concluded that "we need to see and wait for the
Moroccan explanation for their actions."
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