Between a strong emotional bond and strong economic and cultural ties, French and Moroccan societies, since the late colonial era, managed to establish a unique and generally peaceful relationship, but it was weakened by emerging political differences.
On the eve of a historic match between the two countries in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, Moroccan thinker Hassan Aourid told AFP: “The relationship between Morocco and France is not an exact copy of France’s relationship with Algeria. The relationship (between Paris and Rabat) is much calmer.” Even if there are ambiguous aspects and situational tensions.
Orid believes that “there are undoubtedly segments of Moroccan society that have a very emotional relationship with France. This is the case with the bourgeois class and the technocrats in the decision-making circle.”
Morocco’s independence, declared in 1956, ended 44 years of Franco-Spanish protection.
Since then, despite Spanish competition, France has been Morocco’s first economic partner and the first foreign investor.
French culture remains very popular with Moroccan elites, many of whom studied in French institutions.
In all, there are around 54,000 French residents in the kingdom. On the other hand, available statistics indicate that more than one million Moroccans reside in France, which increases marriages between the two peoples and establishes intimate family relationships.
New competitors
However, in Morocco, as in other countries on the African continent, there is competition for French influence from new parties, as evidenced by the emergence of American, Canadian and Belgian educational institutions in recent years.
The French-Moroccan writer Hajar Azil, who lives between Paris and Rabat, explains that the younger generations in particular “resort to English first because it is the language of technology and social media, but also because French is considered the language of ‘elite.”
The Confucius Institutes, the Chinese counterpart of the Alliance Française that seeks to promote French culture and language around the world, are also making great strides, while the content of Gulf TV channels is increasingly entrenched in Moroccan society, especially among the lower classes. popular .
Orid explains: “There are groups (in Moroccan society) who have been influenced by Arabism and Islam, and for them, France is not just a Western country, but rather an enemy who controlled and colonized Morocco. There is a change”.
“The growth of relations other than the one with France is inevitable and constitutes a rebalancing, also due to the decline of French influence, especially economic and diplomatic,” said Beatrice Ebo, research director at the French National Center for Science Research (CNRS). .
Observers believe this loss of influence is mainly due to the decline of French cultural and educational policy in recent decades in Morocco, although it has the largest cultural network of French institutes in the world.
Ebo points out that French schools and high schools, where French people received free education and Moroccans paid for it, have become exorbitant ‘in a way that is beyond imagination for non-French people. It will give them more opportunities in the world as’ and now?”
French indifference?
The researcher believes that “the issue of visas, which is considered extremely important, should not be underestimated”, explaining that this French policy Rabat considers “really a slap in the face, with real anti-French sentiment and a big waste” growing.
France decided at the end of 2021 to halve the entry visas granted to Moroccans, justifying this with Rabat’s refusal to take back the irregular immigrants that Paris wants to expel.
At the time, Rabat called this decision “unjustified” and the non-governmental humanitarian organizations “offensive”, while the French-speaking Moroccan community considered it “clumsy”.
And the Moroccan researcher, Ali Bouabid, confirmed to AFP that the visa restrictions “have annoyingly and involuntarily drowned civil society in an issue that goes further, fueling a sense of hostility towards France in its path”.
The researcher fears this issue will leave a lasting impression on public opinion.
Former director of the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco, Driss Kharouz, expressed his concern in a recent interview that this was an indication of possible French indifference towards Morocco.
He considered that “the focus of interests of the French elites has shifted to other regions and other issues, such as Asia, Russia, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. There is a kind of intellectual laxity, while economic interests between Morocco and France have become more strategic”.
