The analyst and specialist in Spanish-Moroccan cooperation came to the microphones of 'De cara al mundo' on Onda Madrid to comment on the importance of the Assilah Festival and the possible visit of king Mohammed VI to Algeria for the Arab League summit

Nourdine Mouati: “La visita de Mohamed VI a Argel marcará un punto de inflexión en las relaciones entre Argelia y Marruecos”

photo_camera PHOTO/GUILLERMO LÓPEZ/ATALAYAR - Nourdine Mouati, a consultant and expert international analyst

The Assilah Festival celebrates its 43rd edition at a key moment in relations between Spain and Morocco, the leading cultural event in North Africa. In addition, the possibility that the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, may visit Algeria in the framework of the Arab League summit brings new prospects for relations between Algiers and Rabat, while the Moroccan autonomy plan is gaining greater European support, now backed by Belgium. Nourdine Mouati, a consultant and expert international analyst, analyses all this current affairs.

Mr Mouati, you have participated in the Assilah festival. What does this festival represent for Morocco and also for the cultural, social, economic and political scene in the region?

The Assilah festival is one of the longest-running festivals in the Mediterranean basin. It is an annual event where artists and intellectuals from all over the world come together and where global issues are analysed and debated from both a humanist and an African perspective.

I want to insist on this African vision. One of the founding patrons of this festival, Mohamed Benaïsa, former minister of Her Majesty's Foreign Affairs and also of Communication and Culture, insisted that 43 years ago, when this great cultural and humanist journey began, there were no festivals, no meetings, no seminars, no forums in the south of the country, in Africa and in other developing countries.

And they, 43 years ago, in a small village in the north of Morocco, have been able to survive throughout this period and project themselves on a global level with very limited means. It is a cultural miracle and an example of what Africa can achieve with little means, but with a lot of will and creativity.

As you know very well, and as you are seeing these days when you are with us, Assilah is a true cultural oasis and one of the cities with the best cultural infrastructures in the world. Although it is small, it has two cultural centres of great global projection and a city that is also home to an artistic, literary, humanistic, African and Arab legacy of incalculable value. As Mohamed Benaïsa rightly said, it is the cultural Davos. The work he has done to ensure that this annual event survives under the current conditions is to be commended.

Moreover, I think we should take advantage of our antenna and also with the magazine Atalayar to encourage Spanish personalities not to miss this occasion because it is a pity that Spanish representation is so scarce considering that it is a very favourable opportunity to strengthen ties.

Yes, unfortunately, let's say that Spanish participation in the Assilah festival, in this important forum at both the African and Arab levels, is marginal. It is incomprehensible that Spain now has this vocation towards the African continent and does not participate in one of the most important cultural and intellectual events in Africa, such as Assilah.

That is why I would also like to praise your work, the work of Atalayar, to be present, to get to know this important cultural event and also to meet the people who attend this forum where global issues are debated, insisting on this African perspective.

We hope that both the Spanish cultural participation and the current press and media will be interested in this event, which is very important in this vision of the government and of Spain's interests in its projection on the African continent and in the Arab countries. Let us hope that in the 44th edition there will be significant Spanish participation on a large scale and with other media, in addition to Atalayar. 

What can we expect if the presence of the King of Morocco Mohamed VI at the Algiers summit of the Arab League is officially confirmed?

It will be a historic event, especially given recent developments in the Algerian regime's unfortunately hostile policy towards Morocco. As you mentioned, His Majesty has always held out his hand. Morocco is a country of peace, a stable nation that aspires to have the best relations with its neighbours, especially Algeria, with which we have fraternal ties, and I believe that this visit will mark a turning point in relations.

We hope and I am sure that the people of Algeria will reserve a very warm and empathetic welcome for Your Majesty. We all hope that relations between our brotherly countries, Algeria and Morocco, will be as good as possible. We share many cultural and even family ties, and we hope that Algeria's military leaders will take note of the gesture of this visit and begin the process of returning and normalising relations. It is important to stabilise an area such as the Maghreb and to find a solution to the great challenge of the Sahel. I think it will be a historic event that will change many things in the region for the better, and let us hope that the military junta that governs Algeria realises that it is time to bury the past.

During this festival in Assilah, we have been talking about this issue. There has been an important conference on separatism on the continent with leaders from many countries; from Mali, Chad, Mauritania or even Saudi Arabia, people who follow African affairs closely. We have insisted with them that separatism, in the end, destroys the future of Africa, and we have all shared this pan-Africanist vision, of a federation of the 54 countries that make up this continent of great projection towards the future. We hope that these conflicts, such as the one in Algeria and Morocco, will be resolved and that we can work together towards that longed-for African union.

At a time when the Covid has punished these North African economies and they are still enduring other crises such as the energy crisis or the food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I believe that Moroccan and Algerian citizens could benefit from this good relationship, with the opening of the border, airspace and they could even defend their interests against the European Union, China, Russia or the United States, right?

Yes, it is also logical. Morocco is an agricultural power while Algeria spends a lot of money buying food: there is a complementarity between the two countries. Algeria has gas reserves, Morocco is now diversifying its energy sources such as renewable energies, but they are two complementary economies.

Her Majesty's hand has always been outstretched, and now it is up to Algeria's leaders to make a move. Let them realise once and for all that Morocco is a brother country and with it we can build a very important future for the whole of North Africa. The integration of the five Maghreb countries was an idea sponsored by Hassan II but has unfortunately been discarded by countries that seek to support and generate conflict by supporting separatist movements.

Now, as several African leaders said at the Assilah forum, it is time to forget that colonial past that has generated separatist movements, micro-states that are unviable and problems that also affect the European continent. We must therefore focus on this vision of integration between countries, of more complementarity and cooperation between all the countries that make up the continent of the future, which is the African continent.

Algeria is also succumbing to the crisis in Ukraine and is noticing the increase in food prices. Morocco, if you are aware of this, is a powerhouse in fertilisers, of which it is going to make a large donation to African countries so that they are not affected by this uncontrolled increase in prices.

PHOTO/GUILLERMO LÓPEZ/ATALAYAR - Nourdine Mouati

And, furthermore, that they can sit down to negotiate within the framework of the United Nations this proposal for Moroccan autonomy, which, by the way, has also received the support of Belgium in the last few hours. Another European country which, together with Germany and Spain, is supporting a solution in favour of the Saharawis. 

Yes, yesterday we had the visit of the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, who by the way is of Kabyle origin, from Algeria. Belgium has shown its support for the Moroccan autonomy plan, which is mainly a plan so that the people who live in the Tindouf camps and who live in very precarious conditions can return and settle in their native country, Morocco. So that this portion, which is from southern Morocco, can return and put an end to this conflict that has already lasted a long time and which unfortunately has done so because Algeria's leaders have financed and armed a military separatist movement responsible for several tragedies and murders.

In a globalised world, with the challenges we face with climate change and the food crisis, there is no longer any reason for these countries to support separatist movements which, in the end, degenerate, as we have seen in recent years, into terrorist movements that threaten the stability of several countries.

I believe that it is time to resolve this artificial conflict. It is time for Algeria to sit down at the negotiating table. Morocco has always been a generous country towards Algeria and its neighbours, and I believe that in the end we will achieve the longed-for peace in an area as sensitive as the Sahara and the Sahel.

With Belgium's support, which first began with the support of the United States, then Germany and then Spain, it is clear that this is a conflict that has no reason to exist and that it is time for peace. And the best solution is Morocco's autonomy plan, which it has been advocating since 2007, so that these people who live in precarious conditions and who are subjected to a military group can return to their homes and be reunited with their families. Finally, we can create a zone of prosperity between Morocco and Algeria.

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