Morocco squeezes diplomacy, but also its influence in the shadows

The investigation of

, the alleged case of corruption in the European Parliament in defense of Qatari interests, has touched Morocco tangentially, according to information published by the Belgian newspaper

and by the Italian

, which point to a diplomat and the Moroccan secret services.

The Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, has limited himself to confirming the investigations underway together with "foreign partners" (referring to other intelligence services) on alleged plots hatched from "different countries", without citing any in particular.

The politician did allude to the attempt by a government to influence the fishing agreement negotiated by the EU with Morocco, according to what was published by the French newspaper

In Rabat, the official silence on the revelations aired by the European media is absolute.

Only a few digital portals have echoed.

The issue was not discussed last Friday at the joint press conference offered by the foreign ministers of Morocco, Naser Burita, and France, Catherine Colonna, limited by the organizers to two questions from journalists from each of the countries.

Both staged the diplomatic reunion between the governments of Paris, which 15 months ago drastically restricted the granting of visas to Moroccan citizens, and of Rabat, which the French authorities accused of refusing to accept their repatriated clandestine migrants.

In an intervention without edges, Minister Colonna congratulated herself on the new understanding and announced the "restoration of complete consular relations" with Morocco, as well as a foreseeable visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Rabat in the first quarter of 2023. She also reiterated " the favorable position” of France to the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.

The reconciliation between the two capitals, in the wake of the one also reached this year by Rabat with Berlin and Madrid on the same dispute over the Sahara, is a good example of the latest achievements derived from Morocco's foreign influence strategy.

In broad daylight, through conventional diplomatic channels;

In the chiaroscuro of commercial or cultural

, or in the shadows, through pressure groups such as those that operate in a recognized way in Brussels and Washington, Rabat has been able to take advantage of its geopolitical advances.

"It was necessary to renew and adapt bilateral relations," Minister Burita specified before his French counterpart.

"Morocco has evolved a lot internally, at the same time that it has strengthened its international deployment and has diversified its alliances," the head of Moroccan diplomacy asserted his assets.

It was a clear allusion to the intense economic and political projection in Africa and, especially, to the normalization of relations with Israel hand in hand with the recognition by the United States of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, two years ago now.

"Since then, fundamental developments have taken place in countries close to France," he stressed.

The European Union is the origin of 53% of Morocco's imports and the destination of 66% of its exports.

Spain has ousted France as the first trading partner.

In the bilateral balance there are other factors.

Both countries equally need Moroccan cooperation to combat irregular immigration and Islamic jihadist terrorism,

As an example of a renewed entente, the forum held last month in Fez by the Alliance of Civilizations, a UN body co-founded by the Spanish Government 17 years ago, was the scene of the new climate of rapprochement between Spain and Morocco after the end of a disagreement stage.

The conclave was convened by the former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who currently heads the Alliance at the United Nations.

In addition to the presence of the current head of the portfolio, José Manuel Albares, the former President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, intervened in the sessions.

This same year, Spain abandoned its traditional position of neutrality in the conflict in the former Sahara colony to side with Rabat, considering its autonomy proposal "as the most serious, realistic and credible basis" for resolving the dispute.

The celebration of a bilateral Spanish-Moroccan summit, a high-level meeting, is scheduled in Rabat at the beginning of 2023, after seven years without having been convened.

But while Morocco recovers ties with the two ex-powers that established a protectorate on its territory in the first half of the 20th century, in its Maghreb neighborhood and due to the Western Sahara conflict, relations break, as with Algeria, or freeze the case of Tunisia.

Algiers supports ―and gives shelter― to the Polisario Front, which is pursuing the independence of the former Spanish colony.

Tunisia has received with honors as head of state its leader, Brahim Ghali, who two years ago ordered the resumption of military hostilities against Moroccan troops.

During the Arab League summit, held last month in Algiers, Minister Burita conveyed to the Algerian President, Abdelmayid Tebún, an invitation from King Mohamed VI to meet on Moroccan soil.

The message got the silence for response.

After normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel in the last days of the presidency of Republican Donald Trump, not yet consolidated with an exchange of ambassadors;

Rabat has sealed a military cooperation agreement with the Jewish state that has sparked concern among the high command of the Algerian army.

Faced with an eventual change of course in Washington on Western Sahara by the administration of Democrat Joe Biden, Morocco redoubled its efforts to guarantee its capacity for diplomatic influence.

For this, it hired the services of the lobbying groups Akim Gump and Yorktown Sollutions, after disassociating itself from other

close to the Republican Party, according to the digital Morocco World News.

These two contracts were added to the one already signed with the public affairs consultancy Clout.

In Washington, the presence of former parliamentarians and former senior officials in these pressure groups is common.

A network woven in sub-Saharan countries

Morocco has placed the focus of its diplomatic interests on Africa.

This was highlighted by King Mohamed VI himself in the message he sent to the recent forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Fez, where the presence of African representatives was evident among the more than a thousand attendees.

Morocco has been weaving an economic, diplomatic and religious network in Africa for decades that led it to rejoin the African Union in 2017.

In 1984, he had abandoned the Organization for African Unity, the precedent of the aforementioned body, due to the admission into its bosom of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (self-proclaimed by the Polisario Front).

Rabat has been exerting economic influence on numerous sub-Saharan countries through investments in the banking, insurance and telecommunications sectors.

In the last decade, the African destinations of the flag carrier Royal Air Maroc have multiplied by three, reaching nearly four dozen connections and turning the Mohamed V airport in Casablanca into a major connection node between Africa and Europe.

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