A stay to seal the rapprochement between Paris and Rabat. Emmanuel Macron is expected this Monday, October 28 at the end of the day in Morocco for a three-day state visit. This stay should allow the French president to meet again with the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, after years of estrangement.
This visit, which follows an invitation sent at the end of September by King Mohammed VI, “aims to mark a new ambition for the next 30 years” in Franco-Moroccan relations, maintains the Elysée.
“We intend to rebuild (our relations), but also project ourselves into the coming decades”, setting “the bar very high in many areas”, stated on Sunday, October 27, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, in La Grandstand Sunday.
The two countries, with a “solid and deep-rooted partnership”, have a “common desire” to “strengthen the ties” that unite them, Rabat said.
OQTF in the menu
The two leaders aim to end a series of disputes. Among them, suspicions of wiretapping by President Macron, but also the halving of the number of visas granted to Moroccans in 2021-2022 to pressure Rabat to welcome its nationals in an irregular situation.
For Patrick Stefanini, former secretary general of the Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, guest of RMC-BFMTV this Monday, “the issue of the OQTF (Obligations to leave French territory, ed.) will be included in this visit”, while the Minister The Minister of the Interior will also make the trip.
“I think this will be the opportunity, at least I hope so, for Bruno Retailleau to tell the Minister of the Interior of Morocco what his expectations are,” declared Patrick Stefanini.
“When we compare the number of visas granted each year to Moroccan nationals, in the order of 200,000, and the number of forced expulsions, which is less than 2,000, a kind of imbalance is observed,” he added. specialist.
Economic agreements are expected
This is Emmanuel Macron’s third trip to Morocco as president and his first state visit. Mohammed VI will come to receive his guest at the airport with great fanfare, to the sound of 21 cannon shots. Emmanuel Macron’s program includes a speech before the Moroccan Parliament and a state dinner at the royal palace.
The two countries are also expected to sign several economic agreements. France hopes, in particular, to remain Morocco’s preferred service provider for the expansion of the high-speed line between Tangier and Agadir.
A great delegation
For this visit, Emmanuel Macron will be accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron, as well as a large delegation. At his side will be nine ministers, including Bruno Retailleau for the Interior, Jean-Noël Barrot for Foreign Affairs and Antoine Armand for the Economy.
Several businessmen will also be present on the trip. The groups LVMH, Veolia, Orange, Transavia, TotalEnergies and even Airbus International will be represented.
With them, several artists, athletes and intellectuals representing the Franco-Moroccan cultural world, such as the comedian Jamel Debbouze, the writers Leïla Slimani and Edgar Morin and the actor Gérard Darmon.
A visit postponed several times
Initially scheduled for early 2020, Emmanuel Macron’s visit was postponed several times, while the priority given by the president to Algeria following his re-election in 2022 had contributed to cooling relations between Paris and Rabat.
Emmanuel Macron finally chose to approach Morocco, where France has important economic interests, by expressing in July his support for a solution for Western Sahara “within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.”
A position he should reaffirm loud and clear during a highly anticipated speech to Parliament on Tuesday.
Source: BFM TV
