secondJosé Manuel Albaren immediately clarified a priority after he was sworn in. The new Spanish Foreign Minister hopes to have an orderly relationship “with our good friend, our neighbor Morocco”. The former Spanish ambassador to Paris would rather visit Rabat for the first time abroad today than tomorrow. The serious diplomatic crisis between Spain and this North African country made the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alancha González Raya pay the price more than a year and a half later: her head was “put on a silver platter” and delivered to La by Amazon express. Bart, the commentator for La newspaper wrote. Vanguard on Tuesday. This experienced former UN and EU diplomat was sacrificed on the “Moroccan altar” for political reasons.
The crisis reached its peak in May, when Moroccan security forces allowed more than 10,000 Moroccans to flood into the Ceuta enclave in Spain’s North Africa. Moroccan leaders are angry that González Laya allowed Polisario, the leader of the Western Sahara Liberation Front, to enter Spain. Brahim Ghali was treated for severe Covid disease there. The Foreign Minister did not inform Rabat of this matter. Morocco has recalled its ambassador and terminated its security cooperation with Madrid—similar to what happened in Germany: Since March, Rabat and Berlin have been in a diplomatic ice age.
“Appeasement Mark”
However, neither the federal government nor the Madrid government is prepared to recognize Morocco’s demands on the former colony of Western Sahara.Morocco urges Europeans to follow the example of former U.S. president Donald Trump Who did it by the end of 2020. In Rabat, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is expected to leave early. The L’Opinion newspaper described him as “a sign of appeasement to Morocco”. The online portal Le360.ma doubts whether this gesture is sufficient because Spain continues to ignore the “deep causes of the crisis”, namely Morocco’s interests in Western Sahara.
For Spain, Morocco is the most important neighbor on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. This applies in particular to combating jihadist terrorists and combating illegal immigration. Most immigrants came to Spain from Morocco; the increase in the first half of this year was more than 150%-mostly in the Canary Islands. On Monday, more than one hundred migrants managed to overcome the border fence around the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
Worries about summer due to corona
There is a third foreign minister, the prime minister Pedro Sanchez Being appointed outside Morocco has done enough in just three years. When Josep Borrell became the EU’s foreign affairs representative in 2019, Albaren, a professional diplomat, was already a candidate for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to this, the 49-year-old Sanchez confidante was his most important foreign policy adviser. As Secretary-General of International Affairs, he was his “Sherpa.” Albaren has now also announced that it will take more steps to attract its Western partners. So far, Sanchez has only exchanged a few words with US President Joe Biden on his way to the conference hall during the NATO summit in Brussels. The Prime Minister of Spain did not book his upcoming trip to the United States at the White House.
In Europe, the new foreign minister will help ensure that the Gibraltar Agreement, regarded as one of the successes of its predecessor, finally enters into force.Last New Year’s Eve, Madrid and London agreed in principle that Gibraltar should belong to the Schengen area and should be closer to the post-Brexit period. I Binding. In fact, the agreement should have been signed.
The European Commission hopes to finally resolve the border issue next week. On Tuesday, Brussels issued the first 9 billion euros from the EU reconstruction fund, which Spain desperately needs, as the new corona wave has raised concerns about the summer. Therefore, Albaren believes that one of its tasks is to promote Spain as a “safe tourist destination” in Europe.
