The Diplomat
King Mohammed VI hopes for a “return to normality” and the re-establishment of open borders with Algeria, he said on Saturday during the traditional speech on the occasion of the Feast of the Throne. The Alawite monarch made no mention of Spain during his speech.
In commemorating the 24th anniversary of his enthronement, Mohammed VI assured that his country “will never be the source of any damage or harm” to Algeria. “We also wish to convey to you the enormous importance we attach to the bonds of affection, friendship, exchange and communication between the two peoples,” the king said in a speech broadcast on all the country’s public television and radio stations. “We implore Almighty God to return everything to normal, and to open the borders between our two neighbouring and brotherly countries and peoples,” he added.
The borders between Morocco and Algeria have remained closed since 1994, despite repeated calls by Morocco in recent years for their reopening. In 2021, Algeria unilaterally cut ties with Morocco and stopped the flow of the gas pipeline to Spain through Morocco. Subsequently, the Algiers authorities banned all Moroccan aircraft from crossing its airspace.
The Western Sahara dispute has always been at the centre of tense relations between the two countries. Indeed, Pedro Sánchez’s government’s implicit recognition of Morocco’s recognition of the Sahara was the trigger for Algeria to withdraw its ambassador in Madrid and reduce trade and economic relations with Spain to a minimum.
The latest country to join the list of recognitions, after the United States under the Trump administration, is the Dominican Republic, according to a statement from the Moroccan government itself.
Morocco considers the territory of Western Sahara, which it occupied in 1975, to be its own, while the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, wants to establish an independent state there.
Mohammed VI also defended his government’s economic initiatives to develop the country and, in terms of domestic policy, announced the pardoning of 2,052 prisoners sentenced by various courts, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Justice.
