Macron Begins 3-Day Visit to Morocco

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will pay a state visit to Morocco from October 28-30 at the invitation of Moroccan King Mohammed VI after several years of strained relations between Paris and Rabat.
In July, Macron agreed to change his stance on the issue of Western Sahara, the main sticking point in relations between France and Morocco. In a letter to the Moroccan king, Macron pledged his support for the plan for Western Sahara’s autonomy under the kingdom’s sovereignty, calling it “the only basis” for resolving the nearly 50-year conflict with the Polisario Front, a local nationalist movement.

Tensions between Paris and Rabat arose in October 2021, when the French government decided to halve the number of visas issued to Moroccans due to Rabat’s reluctance to take back citizens who did not have the right to reside in France. The Moroccan Foreign Ministry called Paris’s decision unjustified.