France will end visa restrictions for Moroccan nationals, the
foreign minister said on Friday, in a sign of warmer relations
between the two countries after more than a year of tensions
between Paris and Rabat, Trend reports citing Euronews.
“We’ve taken measures with our Moroccan partners to re-establish
a consular relationship,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said
on Friday after talks with her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita
in Rabat.
France, under pressure from public opinion to act to curb
undocumented immigrants, announced last year it would cut the
number of visas granted to nationals from Algeria, Morocco and
Tunisia because of the North African countries’ refusal to take
back their citizens living illegally in France.
It was not immediately clear whether France had got anything in
return from Morocco. Morocco’s Bourita said France had made a
unilateral decision to end restrictions after what he said was also
a unilateral decision to introduce the restrictions.
France has generally warmer relations with Morocco than with its
eastern neighbor Algeria, also a former colony.
But ties deteriorated after media reports in the summer of 2021
said President Emmanuel Macron’s phone was on a list of potential
targets for surveillance by Morocco using the Pegasus software.
Morocco has denied the allegation and said it did not possess
Pegasus.
The improvement in relations comes two days after France and
Morocco played each other in the football World Cup semi-finals in
Qatar. France won the match, which gave greater visibility to the
extensive links between the two countries and their dual
nationals.
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