TheCable

Relations between Morocco and France, which have always been strong and confident, are experiencing a serious cold snap.

The ties between Morocco and France have always been strategic. There are not many areas where France is not the first partner of Morocco, mainly in political, economic, strategic, cultural, academic and human fields.

The relations followed between the two foreign ministers bear witness to this. French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian travelled to Rabat on June 8 to meet his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, that was an opportunity for both men to prepare the next high-level meetings between the two countries and to discuss regional issues such as the Libyan issue.

Suddenly the agenda of Jean-Yves Le Drian was overload. But what happened recently in New York is a latent incomprehension.

Indeed, the meeting between the two Foreign Ministers of Morocco and France, on the side line of the major multilateral meeting of the UN General Assembly has always been a tradition. This is an occasion for the two ministers to review and coordinate the major issues on the international agenda.

However, observers of diplomatic life have said, or even surprised, that Jean-Yves Le Drian had a bilateral meeting with the Algerian Foreign Minister, Sabri Boukaddoum, while it seems that he did not “find the time” to meet his Moroccan counterpart, who had proposed it as usual.

The reason behind all this remains a mystery. But the consequence is the same: a question mark about the quality and fluidity of the “exceptional relationship” between Rabat and Paris.

In general silence, one can only watch for future developments.

Culled from Mondafrique