Makhzen Pushes For Mediation With Algeria Again

Despite Algeria’s assertion more than once that the option of mediation with Morocco is not on the table to normalize bilateral relations, some parties insist on re-presenting this proposal each time, in a way that calls into question the background of this insistence and who is behind it, and whether the Western neighbor has anything to do with that. ?
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvares, in an interview with the newspaper “Diario de Sevilla”, said that his country intends to take the initiative again to work to dispel the clouds that cloud the skies of Algerian-Moroccan relations, at the Union for the Mediterranean summit, hosted by Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, November 28th and 29th.

According to the head of the Spanish diplomacy, “Morocco and Algeria are key partner countries for Spain and the European Union, and with them we build the relationship in the Mediterranean. On November 28 and 29, Barcelona will host a conference of the Union for the Mediterranean, where we will discuss these issues. We in Spain will always work for détente.” For the sake of good neighborliness and for cooperation to build the Mediterranean, dialogue is essential in this regard,” he argued.

The Union for the Mediterranean is a grouping of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, established by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but Algeria was not enthusiastic about working within this space, because it believes that Sarkozy established this union in 2008, in order to break the siege imposed on the state of the Zionist entity by the Arab countries, while Algeria’s position on this issue needs no comment.

More than one Spanish official, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Teresa Rivera, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs had visited Algeria, and tried to soften the Algerian position regarding the normalization of relations between Algeria and Rabat, even if the matter was limited to extending the work of the Maghreb-European gas pipeline only, but all these attempts failed.

However, shedding light on the Union for the Mediterranean answers many of the questions raised about the continued insistence of the parties supporting the normalization of Algerian-Moroccan relations. This body, which did not like Algeria from the beginning, as for Morocco, was one of the most impatient for it due to its manifold relations with the state of the Zionist entity. This was evidenced by the fact that two Moroccans assumed the position of the General Secretariat of this union.

Another Moroccan held the position of Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean, and he was the Fatih Al-Sijlmassi for more than one term, which indicates the extent of the influence that the Makhzen regime enjoys in this Sarkozy initiative, which suggests that Morocco is the one who is trying to revive mediation, under any platform.

Therefore, the Makhzen regime has been greatly affected by the Algerian sanctions that were imposed on it after the severing of bilateral relations, which resulted in preventing Moroccan civil and military aviation from flying over Algerian airspace, and last but not least, stopping the supply of Western neighbor with liquefied natural gas after the decision not to renew the contract of the Maghreb-European gas pipeline.
It is expected that the fate of the mediation that the head of the Spanish diplomacy talked about will be under the dome of the Union for the Mediterranean, like other previous failed mediation attempts, similar to those initiated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and to a lesser extent the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

It was at the request of Rabat, whose officials pretend in the media that they are indifferent to the severing of relations and its repercussions on the Moroccan economy.
The mediation envisaged by the Spanish minister comes at a time when Rabat is preparing to receive the Minister of Defense of the Zionist entity, Benny Gantz, to sign military and security cooperation agreements. To all intents and purposes, the Moroccan Makhzen has turned into a mere tool in the hands of Tel Aviv, which is working to bring the Algerian-Moroccan dispute to a point of no return.