Algeria Embarrasses Morocco By Calling For The Activation Of Maghreb Union Institutions
Echoroukonline
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Algeria called for the convening of a meeting of the Maghreb Union’s Council of Foreign Ministers “as soon as possible”, a call that came after the “maneuver” that was launched by King Mohammed VI, during which he called for a bilateral dialogue.
“Algeria has notified the general secretary of the Arab Maghreb Union, Tayeb Bakouche, of organizing a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Maghreb Union and to direct this request to the foreign ministers of the union’s member states”, the official APS news agency reported.
“The initiative is based on the firm conviction of Algeria, which has expressed on many occasions the need to push the course of the Maghreb and its institutions. It is also an extension of the recommendations of the recent extraordinary summit of the African Union in Ethiopia on institutional reform and the role of regional economic groups in the process of integrating African countries”.
On November 6, the Moroccan monarch launched an initiative that he said was a “joint political mechanism for dialogue and consultation” to settle the disputes between Algeria and Morocco, an invitation that Algeria did not react to as hoped, because it came under a suspicious circumstance, as observers linked it to the upcoming negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front, about two weeks ago in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, which was considered by the Algerian side as an attempt by the Makhzen to shirk its responsibilities and an effort to alleviate the international pressure to end Western Sahara crisis, which lasted more than four decades.
It is clear from the content of the two initiatives that Morocco is seeking to launch a bilateral dialogue with Algeria to settle outstanding issues of interest to Morocco in the first instance, foremost of which is the Western Sahara issue, which has become more pressing than ever on the diplomatic agenda of the Makhzen, and has become a heavy responsibility on Rabat.
The Algerian endeavor is to activate the dialogue in the Maghreb space, based on the existing Maghreb institutions, which suffer from paralysis, because Morocco linked the activation of this space to a tolerant Algerian position on the Sahara issue, which Algeria rejected, because the matter is about an initial decision, based on decolonization, which Algeria suffered more than any other country.
The Moroccan monarch, through his initiative, has tried to put Algeria in the corner by trying to show it as rejecting dialogue as a means of resolving bilateral disputes, such as what he had previously blamed for the disruption of the bodies of the Maghreb Union. However, the reality says otherwise, as Algeria ratified 29 sector agreements out of 36 agreements that have been concluded since the establishment of the Union in 1989, while Morocco has signed only eight agreements.
The Algerian side, behind its invitation to the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab Maghreb Union, wished to emphasize that Algeria is one of the five most important Maghreb countries that is committed to dialogue and to maintaining the continuity of the space that brings together the countries of the Union, as evidenced by its signature on more than the other five member states (after Libya) in the union on the conventions that were in effect for the role of this body.
