King Mohammed VI congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron today on Bastille Day, France’s national holiday.
In his message, which is part of royal protocol, the monarch expressed his “sincere congratulations” to Macron, wishing for “prosperity “ and the “well-being for the French people.”
The brief congratulatory cable from the King comes amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.
France and Morocco have been navigating a series of diplomatic crises, first triggered by France’s decision to tighten consular services against Morocco in 2021 and compounded in recent months due to France’s ambiguous position on the Western Sahara dispute.
Most recently, many also linked France, including Macron, to the latest hostile, anti-Moroccan maneuvers from the European Parliament.
In May, renowned Moroccan writer Taher Ben Jelloun attributed the exacerbating bilateral tension between the two countries to Macron’s “clumsiness” towards King Mohammed VI.
“Macron was very, very clumsy. He disrespected the King of Morocco.That’s what I know from very reliable sources,” Benjelloun said in an interview with the i24News channel.
The author said Macron made clumsy comments during a conversation with King Mohammed VI where the French President complained to the monarch about allegations that Morocco had been spying on him with Israeli spyware Pegasus.
“I give you my word of honor that I did not spy on you. It’s not my style,” Benjelloun quoted the King as responding to the French president’s complaint.
“Macron answered him with a few things that I cannot say here,” Benejelloune added. “He answered him in an awkward way and the King didn’t like it because he had given him his word of honor and Macron didn’t believe it. Relations [between Morocco and France] have since been broken.”
In February, Macron denied his country’s responsibility in the growing rift between the two countries, instead turning to accusing unspecified third parties of fueling diplomatic tensions between Rabat and Paris.
He claimed that King Mohammed VI knows his commitment to French-Moroccan friendship and his readiness to boost ties between the two countries.
“We have had several discussions, there are personal relations that are friendly and they will remain so. There are always people who try to highlight incidents, scandals in the European Parliament, and listen to topics that have been revealed by the press,” he said.
