La apertura hacia el entendimiento en las relaciones marroquí-argelinas

King Mohammed VI's speech was marked by strong diplomacy and rapprochement with neighbouring Algeria. The historical rivalries between the two countries seem to have reached a détente after the King of Morocco offered the Algerian country in his speech "to work together, as soon as it deems appropriate, to develop the fraternal relations that our peoples have built through years of common struggle".

This rapprochement comes in a context marked by the apparent revival of the Western Sahara conflict, after the United States supported Morocco's proposal to maintain autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty and called on Rabat to reach an agreement within the framework of the United Nations. For its part, Algeria has always been in favour of the Polisario Front's position of holding a referendum to decide the region's fate and has repeatedly welcomed refugees from the area.

So far, there has been no official response from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. However, the deputy of the Algerian national assembly, Qureshi Abdelkarim, affirmed that the decision to "talk to Morocco or not is the responsibility of the President of the Republic", and that this had been established "in previous meetings", so it is expected that silence will prevail in the Algerian response. To these statements, the MP added that Morocco should apologise to the Algerian people so that dialogue can take place, referring to the accusations that had been made against Algeria in the context of the 1994 border closure, when Marrakech suffered an attack that cost the lives of two Spaniards and which Morocco attributed to Algeria, leading to an unexpected diplomatic crisis between the two states. In this respect, he added to the Russian agency Sputnik that it was impossible to "advance the process of unconditional dialogue at the present time".

With regard to the opening of the border, Abdelkrim reiterated that Morocco should issue an official apology to Algeria. In this line, the MP declared that "there are many attacks involving the entry of drugs by tonnage into Algeria," and what "adds insult to injury" are the declarations made by the representative of the Kingdom of Morocco at the United Nations in reference to "the independence movement of the Kabyle tribes, which is contrary to what is proposed with regard to the question of Western Sahara". 

Referring to the Saharawi conflict, Abdelkrim declared that "Algeria supports the Saharawi people because Algeria supports liberation processes throughout the world", and affirmed that "the return of relations cannot be linked to the problem of the Sahara, of which Algeria is not part of the crisis".

For his part, the monarch has stated that "Morocco and Algeria are two twins that complement each other" and that maintaining the closure of borders not only hinders communication between the two peoples, but also contributes to the closure of minds. " In addition, he stressed that "no harm or problem will ever come to our brothers in Algeria from Morocco, no danger or threat" and pointed out that "we consider that the security and stability of Algeria, as well as the tranquility of its people, are part of the security and stability of Morocco ”.

One of the greatest disagreements between Morocco and Algeria stems from the respective issues that the two countries defend with regard to the thorny question of Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco claims and that borders Algeria. From the Algerian country they claim the independence of the area, in addition to hosting in Tindouf the headquarters of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Rabat has not changed its position on the autonomy of the Sahara and has argued on several occasions that Algiers is "an interested party in the conflict".

However, the speech issued by the Moroccan king moves away from the confrontations that both neighboring countries have starred in. From a geopolitical and geostrategic perspective, it is well known that both Algeria and Morocco wish to position themselves in a regional leadership role. 

The bilateral rivalry has its roots in the decolonization process and in the very process of nation-state construction as a consequence of France's own decolonization. After the creation of both states, the race to influence the international community, specifically the European Union and build a strong and influential foreign policy, especially as key partners in the fight against terrorism and irregular emigration, has been more than evident.

After the paralysis of Algerian foreign policy in the last decade as a result of the illness of the former president, Abdelaziz Butefliqa, Morocco has managed to consolidate its influence on the African continent, highlighting the Sahel area in terms of counterterrorism and new economic investments in the region.

The bilateral rivalry has its roots in the decolonization process and in the very process of nation-state construction as a consequence of France's own decolonization. After the creation of both states, the race to influence the international community, specifically the European Union and build a strong and influential foreign policy, especially as key partners in the fight against terrorism and irregular emigration, has been more than evident.

After the paralysis of Algerian foreign policy in the last decade as a result of the illness of the former president, Abdelaziz Butefliqa, Morocco has managed to consolidate its influence on the African continent, highlighting the Sahel area in terms of counterterrorism and new economic investments in the region.

However, the internationalization of the Libyan conflict after the entry of new actors such as Turkey, which managed to balance the pulse between the Tripoli government after its military intervention to support the latter, has caused the ability to influence Morocco and Algeria on the ground. Libyan is widely limited.

The latest statements issued by the Moroccan king on bilateral relations with Algeria could be identified as a first step in the construction of diplomatic relations that get away from the hostilities that have marked the relations between the two countries. Faced with the silence by Algeria, the objectives of both Morocco and Algeria continue to be the reinforcement of their influence in the area and the words of Mohamed VI augur, at least from Morocco, the desire to undertake a joint path in the foreign policy of the area after betting on "the reopening of the borders between the two countries" and expressing its "sincere invitation" to "act together and without conditions towards the establishment of bilateral relations based on trust, dialogue and good neighborliness."