Morocco’s Makhzen Continues Its Wanton Provocations Against Algeria

At a time when Algerian-Moroccan relations are on a hot spot, due to “hostile” statements issued by the Moroccan Consul General in Oran, Rabat has again taken a step that will increase the level of tension between the two neighboring countries due to the repeated provocations of the Makhzen.The Moroccan prime minister, Saad al-Din al-Othmani, signed a decree to allocate land to build a military base for the Royal Army, near the Algerian border and exactly in the region of Djerada.

According to the Moroccan online newspaper, “Hespress”, “the ownership of the land was transferred from the forestry authorities to the state with a view to allocating it to building the base,” according to Decree No. 2.20.337 issued in No. 6884 of the Moroccan Official Gazette.

This decision would doubtless further stoke the tension between the two countries, which has intensified recently, as the Algerian Foreign Minister had summoned the Moroccan ambassador posted in Algiers, and confronted him with the provocative and hostile statements made by the Moroccan consul general in Oran, in which he described Algeria as an “enemy country”, as shown by a video attributed to this diplomat, while in dialogue with the nationals of his country, stuck in Algeria because of the outbreak of the Corona virus.

While Algeria was waiting for a Moroccan position that understood the official and popular anger in Algeria, at the adverse statement of the Moroccan consul in Oran, by replacing him, for example, with another diplomat to stem the diplomatic crisis that caused it, especially after the call that took place between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Rabat baffled its eastern neighbor with an escalating step, by establishing this Military base near the country’s western border.

This is happening at a time when it is difficult for Moroccan diplomacy, to digest an old and renewed Mauritanian decision related to the Sahrawi issue, as Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani congratulated the Sahrawi President, Brahim Ghali on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr religious feast, which bitterly dismayed the Makhzen.

The latter (Makhzen) is now in a tight corner, internationally and even estranged from neighboring countries, due to its ill-conceived attitudes and selfish actions.