Moroccan Regime Faces Unprecedented Isolation in the Maghreb

Algerian-Mauritanian relations have strengthened remarkably recently, characterized by mutual visits between officials of the two countries, while Mauritanian-Moroccan relations seem to be going through a silent crisis, as indicated by the huge customs duties imposed by the Nouakchott government on Moroccan exports since the beginning of this year.

On Friday, January 19, 2024, the Speaker of the Mauritanian National Assembly (Parliament), Mohamed Bamba Meguett, arrived in Algeria on an official visit that will last until next Monday, in response to an invitation he received from his Algerian counterpart, President of the National People’s Assembly, Ibrahim Boughali, according to a statement by the Council, the visit will be “an opportunity to consolidate the excellent relations that have united the two countries for decades.”

The visit of the Speaker of the Mauritanian Parliament to Algeria was preceded by another visit that led Mauritanian Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Marzouk to Algeria last weekend, during which he was received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The two countries also exchanged high-level visits by officials in many sectors during the last few months.

This active diplomatic movement between Algeria and Nouakchott is accompanied by an economic movement characterized by the establishment of a free trade zone between the two countries, after the opening of the Tindouf crossing on the southwestern border of Algeria. A few days ago, Algeria exported tons of onions to the Republic of Mauritania, a process that came in the wake of a silent crisis between the Mauritanian and Moroccan governments, sparked by Nouakchott’s decision to raise customs duties on Moroccan goods by 171%.

This decision led to the cessation of the movement of Moroccan trucks through the Guerguerat crossing, which about three years ago was the scene of confrontations between Sahrawi activists demanding the independence of their country and the Moroccan army, which is the crossing on the Mauritanian-Saharan border. The cessation of the flow of Moroccan trucks carrying some agricultural products towards Mauritania has led to a scarcity in the Mauritanian market, including onions, this is why Algeria intervened to provide shipments of this product last week.

Algeria and Mauritania share a situation in which they were the victim, while the Moroccan regime was the aggressor, namely the cowardly assassinations carried out in cold blood by the Moroccan army against the nationals of two neighbouring and brotherly countries, and the reference there to the repeated targeting of Mauritanian gold miners, the last of which was about two weeks ago. This incident angered the Mauritanian street and caused great embarrassment to the Nouakchott government and prompted it to call on its citizens not to cross the Mauritanian borders when searching for gold.

Algerian nationals were also victims of a military targeted by Moroccan army drones in November 2021, while they were on the road for commercial activity with neighbouring Mauritania. The other thing that Algeria shares with Mauritania is that they are both victims of harassment by political and media elites supported by the Moroccan regime, who are trying to attack the territorial integrity of the two countries, through the claim that Mauritania is part of Moroccan territory as well as parts of Algerian territory, as stated by Ahmed Raissouni, which forced the Mauritanian government to come out with strongly worded statements against Raissouni, and a protest from Algeria as well.

What is striking is that recent years have witnessed a remarkable development in Algerian-Mauritanian relations, driven by discordant positions by the Moroccan regime, in a way that has left Rabat in unprecedented isolation in the Maghreb region.
Algerian-Moroccan relations are in a state of complete rupture, and Moroccan-Mauritanian relations are suffering a silent crisis. As for relations between Tunisia and Morocco, they are also in an unprecedented crisis due to Tunisia’s position close to the Western Sahara Republic, which, as is known, caused the summoning of the ambassadors of the two countries.