The policy of detonating mines.. Will France lose its influence in the Maghreb forever?

After weeks of the crisis that marked France's relationship with the United States of America, Britain and Australia, following the latter's withdrawal from the submarine deal it had previously signed with Paris, France directed its heavy diplomatic cannons towards bombing its friendly relations with the Maghreb countries, especially with Algeria, whose relationship with Paris has deteriorated sharply. Because of what was recently stated by French President Emmanuel Macron, questioning the existence of an "Algerian nation" before his country's colonization of Algeria, and attacking the political system, led by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

This diplomatic crisis comes at a sensitive time that may not necessarily benefit France, but it is useful at the same time for Macron, who is preparing to fight a fierce electoral battle against an extreme right that is sharpening all the weapons of fascism to reach the Elysee Palace, and then the man finds himself motivated to use his recent sharp positions as Important cards in the electoral campaign game to prove that he is the most resolute candidate with regard to France's sovereignty and its historical narrative, and the most adherent to its republican values ​​that are threatened by refugees and immigrants, according to supporters of the far-right, who are numerous in France.

Swift hair between Paris and the Moroccans

Although France was forced out of its Arab colonies in North Africa in the sixties, the relationship continued between the two parties for various reasons, such as mutual political and economic interests, as well as the French cultural impact left by the long years of colonialism. France has tried to maintain safe distances from the political regimes that took power after the end of colonialism, and sometimes insisted on avoiding problems that would cause tension in relations between Paris and the Maghreb capitals, even if historical necessity imposed disagreements on a number of issues.

In Algeria, for example, France dealt with the principle of "neither interference nor ignoring", and it monitored developments in the Algerian arena while avoiding direct intervention due to the great sensitivity with which the political class and the people in Algeria deal with any French role. (1) In January 1992, after the annulment of the election results that gave the Islamic Salvation Front the lead, former French President Francois Mitterrand expressed his astonishment at the matter, which made him a target for the statements of the leaders of the Algerian authority, which took advantage of the situation to re-mobilize the national during the period The country was in trouble. Observers at the time considered that the French president's statement was nothing but a gift to the ruling Algerian authority, as the army helped mobilize public opinion behind it, especially since France did not move a finger during the bloody events of 1988. (2)

Such a situation was repeated many times between Algeria and France. In February 1995, Paris expressed its willingness to accept the peace initiative proposed by the Algerian opposition in Rome, and suggested holding a conference on what is happening in Algeria during the black decade, but the Algerian authority rejected the initiative, accusing France of interfering in its internal affairs and plotting a colonial revenge plot. In 2000, French President Jacques Chirac personally intervened to cancel an article in a French draft law on education recognizing the positive role of France while in its colonies, after the angry reaction of the Algerian political system, which said that Paris deliberately insulted the martyrs of the revolution and took revenge on Algeria's independence. (3)

All these previous stations and others confirmed to Paris that any uncalculated comment about the internal situation in Algeria will have serious consequences, and therefore the French government refrained from supporting the popular demonstrations in Algeria when they erupted in February 2019, unlike the United States and the European Union, which confirmed the right of Algerians in pretending. This hesitant official position was expressed by Edward Philip, the former prime minister, who said in an interview with French media that Algeria is a sovereign country, and that the Algerians themselves must take important decisions affecting their future. The aim of the statements was to distance France from the problems and not to lose Algeria, which it considers an economic and intelligence strategic partner, given the large role of Algerian intelligence in tracking jihadist networks active in Europe since the 1980s. (4)

What applies here to Algeria can be recalled in the relationship between France and Morocco, although the sensitivity between the two countries is less acute, due to the different colonial system that Paris imposed on Rabat. Many French presidents, such as "Nicolas Sarkozy" and "François Hollande", have tried to establish strong relations with the Kingdom, and in the same way, Macron, who traveled to Morocco a month after taking office to recall the memories of the projects and deals he had concluded in Casablanca during his previous work in a bank "Rothschilds". (5)

On this visit, Macron met a number of Moroccan officials, led by the Prime Minister and leaders of the Moroccan Parliament, before joining a royal dinner during which he met King Mohammed VI.

After the visit, Macron stood before the media in a press conference in which he confirmed that he had noticed a great interest on the part of the king in what was happening in the Moroccan countryside, which was witnessing a social movement at the time.

(6) Concurrently, Paris was keen to support the Moroccan position in a number of international forums, especially with regard to the Sahara issue, which is the first national issue for Rabat. France supported the autonomy proposal submitted by Morocco, considering it a serious and realistic solution to the crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Moroccan King Mohammed VI at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Morocco, June 14, 2017

Exploding mines for electoral reasons

"I am with everyone who defends the French flag, the blue, white and red colors of France. I will vote for Macron in the next elections if he fulfills his promises to us."

(Marguerite, daughter of an Algerian harki soldier after her conversation with French President Macron) (12)

Despite the attempts of French policy to maintain good relations with Morocco and Algeria alike, opinion makers in France are keen from time to time to change their tone towards the Maghreb countries, in order to serve their political interests at times, and to redraw the hierarchy between Paris and its former colonies at other times. .

For example, in June 2020, Helen Le Gall, the French ambassador in Rabat, wrote a tweet thanking Chakib Benmoussa, head of the Moroccan Committee on the Development Model, for handing her a “progress report” on the development program, a political roadmap. Economic and social, which King Mohammed VI has demanded to work on since 2019. (7) The tweet of the French ambassador sparked great public anger due to the direct French interference in Moroccan internal affairs, at a time when observers questioned the desire of French diplomacy to embarrass the Moroccan state by highlighting its move Publicly, despite the great sensitivity surrounding the issue of France's interference in the internal affairs of the Maghreb countries. (8)

Je remercie Chakib Benmoussa, Président de la @CSMDMaroc et @AmbaMarocFrance pour m'avoir présenté ce matin un point d'étape de la @CSMDMaroc: de très belles perspectives pour le nouveau pacte économique 🇲🇦🇫🇷!

avec @MezouaghiMihoub @AFD_France .

https://t.co/ZGf7HjRbwE

— Hélène Le Gal (@HeleneLeGal) June 5, 2020

The French ambassador’s tweet came a few months after Macron’s tweet in which Morocco demanded - in the order form - to facilitate the departure of French citizens stranded in Morocco after Rabat’s decision to close its borders due to the spread of the “Covid-19” virus, a tweet in which Moroccan public opinion saw a lack of respect for the country and its institutions, And the lack of diplomatic language with which governments usually address.(9)

In a related context, the administration of French President Macron did not hesitate to engage in a direct confrontation with Algeria, by raising a number of issues that Paris knows for sure are a red line for the Algerians. The series of escalation against Algeria began last September 20, when the French president received at the Elysee Palace the families of the "Hariki", the Arabs who took up arms with France against their country during the Algerian war of liberation between 1954-1962, announcing a compensation scheme for them before the end of the year He apologized to them on behalf of France for all the suffering they had experienced. (10)

During the same meeting, the French President expressed his regret over Algeria's refusal to tread on its national soil by these families, stressing that he would work hard to compensate the surviving activists, and the families of those who died, for the ill-treatment they were subjected to by the French Republic when it abandoned them in Algeria. After their arrival in France, those movement met with harsh conditions, including their gathering in camps that lack the minimum conditions for adequate housing, and some of them being imprisoned, and not allowing their children to learn with the children of the French in France's schools.

Certainly Macron was aware that raising the issue of the movement would strain relations with Algeria, but sources close to the Elysee confirmed that the reception of the movement and their families came after months of secret planning, as the French president seemed to want to achieve as much political gains as possible in order to preserve his chance for a second term. During the upcoming elections, he will face the extreme right that is ready to overthrow him by showing adherence to solid "national" positions.

(11)

During the reception, Macron spoke with a woman named "Marguerite", the daughter of one of the Harkis, and she interrupted the French president more than once in protest of France's lack of respect for its promises towards them, and the president promised her to change the situation.

"He (Macron) told me that he understood our suffering, and it affected me, and I cried after those words, then he promised me that everything would be resolved, he heard what I wanted to say, and I thanked him," she said.

The French president did not want to convince Marguerite alone of his position, but rather directed his message to the general movement, who often vote for the extreme right, and behind them the French right-wing supporters, who show sympathy for the movement because they left their country and raised the flag of France, and they do not like the way so far. by which their army withdrew from Algeria.

(13)

General François Mayer, Salah Abdelkrim and Bornia Tarral pose with French President Emmanuel Macron and Junior Minister of Veterans' Affairs Genevieve Dariusc after being honored during a ceremony in memory of the Algerian activists who helped the French army in the Algerian war of independence

As expected, "Marine Le Pen", Macron's right-wing rival in the upcoming elections, quickly entered the line, and commented on his movement towards the movement via a tweet on Twitter, saying that this electoral generosity of the French president will not be able to erase decades of contempt for the movement and assault on the memory of the movement. French fighters after he himself declared in 2017 that what happened in Algeria is a crime against humanity. (14) In the same context, we can read the decision of Paris to reduce the number of visas granted to Moroccan and Algerian citizens by 50% and to citizens of Tunisia by 30%, a decision that the French Minister of the Interior, Gerard Darman, considered a natural reaction from his country after these countries refused to receive their citizens. of illegal immigrants currently in detention centers. (15) (16)

For his part, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita considered this decision unjustified for a number of reasons, including that Morocco deals with the issue of immigration and the movement of individuals with the logic of responsibility and the necessary balance, that is, by facilitating the movement of students and businessmen, while adhering to its responsibilities regarding the phenomenon of migration. illegal. (17) Bourita said that his country has provided about 400 passes for people in an illegal situation in France, but insists on the need for these deportees to examine “Covid-19” before entering its territory like any other country, surprising that France punishes Moroccans for their inability to Persuading the deported to be examined. For its part, Algeria summoned the French ambassador, François Gouyat, to inform him of its official protest against Paris’s decision to restrict the granting of visas to its citizens, considering that the decision was unilateral and inappropriate, especially as it came on the eve of an Algerian delegation heading to Paris to coordinate regarding illegal immigration.

However, these angry reactions did not alarm the French president, who wanted to show his ability to limit the entry of foreigners to his country only, thus tickling the feelings of the right-wing masses, and highlighting his desire to deport illegal residents at any cost, even if the provocation of the Maghreb countries is the owner of the country. Historical relations with Paris. Macron did not stop there, but came out on October 2, to question the existence of an Algerian nation before French colonialism, surprising the Algerians' focus on the French era and their indifference to the Ottoman era when "the Turks occupied Algeria," as he described it. (19)

During his reception of 18 French young men of Algerian origin, most of whom are from Harki, the French President stated that the Algerian military political system was built on rent linked to memory, accusing the political class and the army in Algeria of creating hostility and hatred for France, describing Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as being stuck within a complex system. And very difficult.

After these statements, the Algerian presidency announced the recall of its ambassador to Paris for consultations, and reminded France of its crimes, which "are uncountable, uncountable and without statute of limitations," according to a statement.

Hours later, Algeria announced the closure of its airspace in the face of French military aircraft heading to the African Sahel region.

(20) (21)

Will France lose the Maghreb under Macron?

Five years ago, Macron presented himself during his first election campaign as a young candidate far from the classic French political discourse, and willing to look at things differently, and it was a happy surprise to the Maghreb public opinion when the man considered that what his country had committed during the occupation of Algeria were "crimes against humanity." . But many things seem to have changed now. Macron has recently returned to the same denial that has characterized France's attitudes during previous decades. (22)

But this arrogant Parisian policy does not come without a price. In the midst of the focus inside France on the equation of the right at home, Paris is gradually leaking out of the hands of Paris, its strong relations with the countries of the Maghreb in favor of new partners. In Algeria, which is a historical extension of French economic influence, a process of opening up to China has begun. France does not like France, which today ranks second in the list of Algeria's trading partners after Beijing, despite the increase in the value of trade exchange between the two countries three times between 1999-2013. Algeria supplies France with fuels, which represent 95% of its exports, and 450 French companies are active in Algeria, providing 40,000 jobs, all of which are now threatened by economic interests under the weight of the current political crisis.

For its part, Morocco also began searching for new partners, as Paris lost its position as the most prominent trading partner of Rabat in favor of Spain and then China, which came close to obtaining the express train deal that will link the cities of Marrakesh and Agadir in southern Morocco. Beijing also wants a share of the project to extend the high-speed train line between Casablanca and Marrakech. (24)

On the military front, the biggest and most important losses for France have come since Macron's rise. Paris failed to win the support of a number of African and European powers for its war on Islamic groups in the African coast, and then it fought alone and witnessed failures in its war that drew the condemnation of its Western allies before the Arabs, and it is now engaged in a partial withdrawal process without achieving its goals. In light of the French military failure, and the involvement of Paris in the Libyan scene in a way that did not satisfy Algeria and Rabat alike, Algeria has recently tended to court the Russians and benefit from their military arsenal, while Rabat tends to search for a role in the Atlantic Association with Britain and the United States, especially given it The latter is an important recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara.

All of this comes in the context of France’s global decline, and its exclusion from the US-British-Australian alliance to confront China in the Pacific region, a decline that leads the Maghreb countries to feel confident in their ability to find new allies from the heavier major powers today, as well as in their ability to redefine the relationship With France to be built on reciprocity and completely liberated from the colonial legacy. On the other hand, it is clear that Paris, and its president seeking electoral legitimacy with a national tone, is clinging to the old equation and dishonorable pages of the past, in a way that may lead France to a political and economic loss in the long run that will not be compensated by the limited gains of any party in next year's elections.

In the end, France's strategy looks like someone who plants mines around him to protect himself, but he soon discovers that those mines will explode in him before others when he realizes his natural need to move again, and that he will not remain isolated forever.

And when the time comes to return to normalcy, and French diplomacy goes beyond the election festival, the courtship of the right and the obsession of refugees, France may find that it has planted too many mines this time, and that what it has lost may never come back completely as it used to, especially at a time when Moroccans see dozens of alternatives. It makes up for their confused and unhealthy relationship with Paris, and even gives them a sense of parity that never came from the northern Mediterranean.

(25)

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