France and Morocco recently renewed their diplomatic relations after a long period of cooling.
This new scenario was highlighted by the invitation of King Mohammed VI to French President Emmanuel Macron for a three-day state visit at the end of October.
The meeting took place in the wake of France’s important decision to recognize Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara as the most realistic and credible way to resolve the Saharawi dispute, which has lasted for almost five decades since the end of the Spanish colonial era.
Emmanuel Macron told King Mohammed VI that France viewed Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara positively, a territory that the Moroccan kingdom considers to be part of its southern provinces.
Indeed, during his state visit to Morocco, the French president delivered a solemn speech before the Moroccan parliament in which he reaffirmed France’s position of support for the Moroccan proposal on Western Sahara. Emmanuel Macron recalled that the present and future of Western Sahara are part of Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory.
During this state visit to Rabat, Morocco and France, through key ministerial representatives, initialed up to 22 key agreements in different sectors such as high-speed rail transportation, energy sector, port sector, etc. ……
In addition to these technical agreements, it was also agreed to open a French consulate in the Sahara, recognizing the Moroccan status of the territory, as well as agreements on French economic investment in the territory of Western Sahara.
The transfer of documentary archives was also discussed. The transfer from France to Morocco of 2.5 million documents was discussed, which shows to what extent the two countries are now on the same wavelength.
This is a very important fact because these historical documents contain very important historical data such as the delimitation of territories, which has a lot to do with Western Sahara, especially if we take into account the demarcations and borders before the colonial period in the region led by France and Spain. These archives can therefore contain revealing and valuable information when it comes to discussing territory and sovereignty.
France had restricted Morocco’s access to certain archives in order to avoid a confrontation with Algeria, great political rival of the Moroccan kingdom in the Maghreb, as was the case during the recognition of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara. However, after having taken the plunge by supporting the Moroccan kingdom on the Sahrawi question, the possible anger of Algeria is no longer to be feared, and this transfer of documentary archives from France to Morocco was discussed.
These archives contain valuable information on the historical claims and territorial borders of Morocco, particularly in areas contested since colonial times, which strengthens Morocco’s legitimate position, according to analysts.
This could be an important historical turning point. The transfer of documentary archives is an important step for Morocco and can also mean the correction of certain historical flaws in favor of certain legitimate claims formulated after the colonial era in North Africa.
It will be possible to see in the future whether Algeria will have to worry about supposed new historical corrections concerning Western Sahara, or even Eastern Sahara, issues that cause political friction between Morocco and Algeria, countries with tense political relations, aggravated especially after Algeria’s decision in August 2021 to break diplomatic relations with its North African neighbor due to deep political differences .
Knowing that it is a question of archives which could support certain historical territorial claims of Rabat.
