French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Rabat, Morocco, on October 28, stepping into a city decked out in French and Moroccan flags. He arrived accompanied by a delegation of 130 people, including ministers, business leaders, and French-Moroccan artists and celebrities. Three days of speeches, formal dinners, grand gestures, and a welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace sent a critical message: France is looking to rekindle its alliance with Morocco. This rapprochement follows a rough period for Franco-Moroccan relations marked by French visa restrictions on Moroccan citizens and overtures toward Algeria—Morocco’s neighbor and historical rival. Now, Macron is pivoting back, eyeing Morocco as an important partner for France’s future. However, he must ask himself whether this move is worth the risk of irreparably damaging relations with Algeria.
France and Morocco share deep historical ties—Morocco was a French protectorate in the early 20th century. Approximately 820,000 Moroccans live in France, forming the country’s second-largest diaspora after Algerians, while at least 41,000 French nationals reside in Morocco. However, relations between France and Morocco have soured in recent years, most notably after the “Pegasus Affair” in 2021, when allegations surfaced that Moroccan intelligence had used Israeli spyware to target the phones of Macron and his associates. Though Morocco denied the accusations, the scandal fueled mistrust in France. A few months later, France halved the number of visa approvals for Moroccan citizens, intending to pressure Morocco and other Maghreb countries into accepting the repatriation of individuals with expulsion orders from French territory. Tensions came to a head in January 2023, when the European Parliament passed a resolution co-sponsored by Macron’s political group, Renew Europe, that called for greater media freedom and fair trials for imprisoned journalists in Morocco. Ahmed Touizi of the Moroccan Authenticity and Modernity Party dismissed the resolution as a “desperate attempt to influence Morocco’s judiciary” and further claimed that “behind the scenes of this decision hides a country which we had thought of as a friend and a solid partner, but the smell of gas has made it lose it”—a less than oblique reference to Paris. This tension ultimately prompted the recall of the French ambassador in Morocco, and following the Atlas Mountain earthquake in September 2023, Morocco declined French humanitarian aid.
In July 2024, France took a major step toward mending fences by supporting Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a disputed territory largely annexed by Rabat in 1975. Morocco still controls nearly 80 percent of the area, including its Atlantic coast, which is home to significant phosphate reserves and fertile lands. The remaining 20 percent is administered by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a political vehicle for the Sahrawi ethnic minority that has sought full independence for the region since 1973. The Polisario declared the formation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1976 and has consistently demanded a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination. Morocco’s plan offers the region a degree of self-governance under Moroccan rule, with its own parliament and government, but has failed to win widespread international approval. Macron’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara was, therefore, a meaningful gesture—France has traditionally taken a neutral stance on the issue, alongside most other countries. France’s position as a nuclear power and permanent member of the UN Security Council carries considerable weight, and French recognition of Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara may be the country’s most impactful diplomatic victory since the United States made a similar acknowledgment in 2020.
France’s desire to secure a valuable ally in North Africa is timely: Morocco is uniquely positioned as a stable partner linking the Arab world and Africa. The kingdom boasts strong energy, industrial, and health sectors—all areas ripe for French investment and cooperation. Strategically, a foothold in Morocco benefits France’s efforts to regain influence in Africa amidst growing competition from global powers like China and Russia. For its part, Morocco has positioned itself as a key diplomatic and economic player through substantial investments in infrastructure, banking, and telecommunications. For example, the $1.2 billion Dakhla Atlantic Port, under construction in Western Sahara and backed by the United Arab Emirates, has the potential to become a trade hub connecting Africa and Europe to other markets. Alongside economic efforts, Morocco wields soft power, offering scholarships to African students, building mosques in African countries, and promoting moderate Islam through initiatives like the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulemas. Moroccan diplomats have also succeeded in gradually breaking Rabat’s isolation on the issue of Western Sahara through decades of negotiation. After previously withdrawing from the African Union (AU) over the inclusion of the SADR, Morocco not only rejoined the AU in 2017 but even successfully persuaded several African nations to establish consulates in the occupied Western Sahara cities of Dakhla and Laayoune.
In Rabat, aiming to fully reboot a partnership that had grown cold, Macron proposed a “new strategic framework” to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, selling it as an opportunity for France and Morocco to address immigration, climate change, and national security together. By endorsing Morocco’s autonomy plan, Macron has clearly chosen a side in the long-running Morocco-Algeria rivalry, and his calculation seems to be that strengthening ties with Morocco is worth the risk of alienating Algeria.
Relations between France and its former colony Algeria have been strained for years. Although France has made some efforts to address the painful legacy of its colonial rule, it has never issued a formal apology for its 132 years of occupation. In October 2021, ahead of Algeria’s 60th anniversary of independence, Macron accused the Algerian government of distorting historical events. He claimed its narrative was “not based on truths” and driven by “hatred toward France.” In response, Algeria temporarily recalled its ambassador to Paris and restricted French military aircrafts from using its airspace. In another incident in early 2023, Algeria recalled its ambassador after Franco-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui, who had been convicted in Algeria of “insulting the president” and “offending Islam,” was allowed to escape to France. Bouraoui had been detained in Tunisia, and the French media reported that pressure from Paris influenced Tunisian authorities’ decision to let her leave. Algeria slammed the incident as a breach of its sovereignty, alleging involvement by French diplomatic and security officials.
Though there were signs that France and Algeria were trying to repair their strained relationship in the first half of 2024, Macron’s support for Morocco’s Western Sahara autonomy plan was the breaking point. After Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was reelected in September 2024, he wasted no time in taking a swipe at France in his first televised interview. Tebboune openly accused France of genocide during its colonial rule and demanded accountability for the atrocities it committed. Efforts to address historical grievances have ground to a halt, and Tebboune blamed the impasse on a vocal minority in France that he says harbors deep-seated hatred for Algeria. Adding fuel to the fire, he condemned the nuclear tests France had conducted in Algeria’s Sahara between 1960 and 1966, which left behind toxic, radioactive waste. Some of the waste remains exposed, posing ongoing risks to local communities, and France has neglected to clean up the sites or inform the Algerian government where buried waste remains. “If you want friendship,” Tebboune declared, “clean up the nuclear test sites.”
In response to Macron’s support for Morocco’s position, Algeria has taken the dramatic step of severing trade ties with France. Though intended as a show of national pride, this choice could backfire economically. With high inflation and persistent unemployment, an isolationist approach to trade could deepen Algeria’s economic challenges. Algeria’s economy is heavily reliant on hydrocarbons, particularly oil and natural gas, which have driven much of its economic activity for decades. France is Algeria’s third-largest export destination, accounting for nearly 12 percent of the country’s total exports. Meanwhile, the economic impact is likely to be limited in France; Algeria is a relatively small market compared to France’s extensive trade network in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Ultimately, France’s support for Morocco signals the start of a transformative alliance between the two nations: France is looking to restore its African presence through Morocco’s diplomatic and economic reach while Morocco hopes to gain more legitimacy in its claim over Western Sahara. But as Macron has fostered closer ties with Morocco, he has simultaneously accepted alienation from Algeria. Although Algiers has historically been a crucial partner and France may have a moral obligation to help its former colony, Macron has decided to jettison this relationship in favor of a more profitable one.