Morocco announced Thursday, May 6, the recall of its ambassador to Berlin for consultation, denouncing in an official statement the “Hostile acts” Germany, especially on the Western Sahara issue – a decision that surprised Berlin.
“The Federal Republic of Germany has increased hostile acts and actions that are detrimental to the higher interests of the kingdom”, says the statement released by the Moroccan foreign ministry.
The text denounces in particular the“Antagonistic activism” of Berlin after the American recognition of the sovereignty of Morocco on this territory disputed by the separatists of the Polisario Front.
For its part, the German Foreign Ministry said it had not been informed in advance of the Moroccan decision and “Not to understand the accusations” uttered by Rabat. “We are all the more surprised by this measure as we are making constructive efforts with the Moroccan side to resolve the crisis”, we told the ministry, which specifies having “Requested an explanation” to the Moroccan authorities.
Rabat had decided in early March to “Suspend all contact” with the German Embassy in Morocco, due to “Deep misunderstandings” with Berlin on various issues, including the question of Western Sahara. At the time, Berlin tried to clarify matters, but all bilateral activities have stalled since.
The press release published Thursday by Rabat also mentions “Continuous relentlessness [de l’Allemagne] to fight the regional role of Morocco, in particular on the Libyan file ”. Morocco had not been invited to participate in the negotiations on the future of Libya, conducted in Berlin in January 2020.
“Complicity with regard to an ex-convict”
Morocco finally accuses the German authorities of “Complicity with regard to a former convict for terrorist acts, in particular by having disclosed to him sensitive information communicated by the Moroccan security services”.
The official statement does not mention a name, but it is probably Mohamed Hajib, a German-Moroccan sentenced in 2010 in Morocco to ten years imprisonment for “Terrorism”, a sentence reduced to five years in early 2012.
Residing in Germany, this forty-something regularly publishes critical attacks against his native country on social networks. At the end of 2020, Berlin had released an envelope of 1.387 billion euros in financial support (including 202.6 million euros in the form of grants and the rest in the form of subsidized loans) in support of the reforms of the Moroccan financial system and in emergency aid to alleviate the effects of the pandemic.
Germany is one of Morocco’s leading trading partners, with € 1.9 billion in exports and € 1.3 billion in imports in 2020 – a drop compared to that of 2019, according to official figures, the Covid-19 having put a stop to the world economy.
The recall of an ambassador for consultation is a rather rare signal of diplomatic dissatisfaction, especially since, in this case, it was not preceded by the usual summons from the German ambassador.