Relations between Rabat and Paris have been at their coldest for a year.

In September 2021, Paris had decided to reduce by 50% the number of visas granted to Algeria and Morocco to put pressure on governments deemed too uncooperative in the readmission of their nationals expelled from France.

In Morocco, the measure had been described as "unjustified" by the government and "great clumsiness" in intellectual circles.

This hardening triggered waves of indignation on social networks and acrimonious articles in the media, and put a damper on relations between Rabat and Paris.

“We met Moroccan men and women who were upset.

We even heard the word humiliation”, assured Salah Bourdi, the president of the CED, during a press conference.

"This visa policy has done a lot of harm since it has affected the most Francophile Moroccan part and the closest to our country," he explained.

The France-Algeria relationship pointed out

As the French government presents its immigration bill, with the aim of enforcing all OQTFs, a group of parliamentarians is calling for a "way out" of this visa crisis.

"We must find solutions to get out of this situation fairly quickly," pleaded the Vice-President of the Senate, Vincent Delahaye during a visit by parliamentarians organized by the Franco-Moroccan Friendship Circle Eugène Delacroix (CED).

"We must disconnect the issue of visas from that of OQTFs," said Michel Dagbert, senator from Pas-de-Calais, who also wished "a step in the right direction by Morocco".

Calls are increasing, on the Moroccan and French side, to put an end to this “visa war”.





The latter is not the only bone of contention between Rabat and Paris.

France is considered too wait-and-see on the question of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, Morocco's "national cause", and its new honeymoon with Algeria, a regional rival, materialized in particular with the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Algiers in August, made people cringe.

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