Morocco has suffered its worst earthquake in more than 60 years, and France is prepared to assist if needed, according to its foreign minister.
At least 2,500 people have been killed, and another 2,400 have been wounded in the North African nation.
'Ready to Help'
Civil defense responders evacuate an injured survivor of the September 8 earthquake in the village of Moulay Brahim in al-Haouz province in the High Atlas mountains of central Morocco on September 11, 2023.
Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, said the country has pledged €5 million (over $5 million) to humanitarian organizations in Morocco. Yet, she said it is up to the Moroccan government to select who it formally asks for help.
Morocco's decision to accept aid from only four countries—the United Kingdom, Spain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—is seen as indicative of not just an impasse in politics but a personal ire between President Emmanuel Macron and King Mohammed VI. Relations between Paris and Rabat have been gloomy for years.
Colonna said on BFM TV, "This is an inappropriate controversy ... people are suffering, people need help. We are ready to help Morocco. It is a sovereign decision and Morocco alone is entitled to determine what its needs are," as reported by The Guardian.
French rescue workers from Nice, Lyon, and Saint-Etienne traveled to Morocco over the weekend. However, on Sunday, September 10, the charity's leader said that Moroccan officials were blocking their teams from entering the country to give emergency relief.
Charity organizations operating in the affected area will get $5 million in relief.
Macron has repeatedly expressed France's readiness to offer help to Morocco after the magnitude 7 earthquake hit late Friday, September 8.
See Also: Morocco: Over 800 Die in Massive Earthquake, Damaging Historic Town
Diplomatic Tensions
In the past, Morocco has claimed that Macron favors his relationship with Algeria above his ties to Rabat.
Analysts in the Middle East have argued that Macron is "obsessed" with strengthening ties with its former colony, Algeria, even if it means risking his relationship with Morocco.
According to The Guardian, the absence of French backing for Morocco's national cause—its sovereignty claim over the Western Sahara—has been a source of tension between the two nations. The Polisario Front, an organization fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara, has Algeria's backing.
In 2017, Macron reportedly defied convention by making his first North African state visit to Morocco rather than Algeria. However, things went downhill from there.
After France threatened to limit visas for Moroccans, Algerians, and Tunisians in 2021 as a deliberate humiliation for not agreeing to take back migrants, a so-called "visas war" broke out.
After Macron's phone number surfaced in Pegasus project data the same year, Paris accused Rabat of attempting to spy on him. The monarch of Rabat, though, denied the allegations.
Rabat blamed France for a vote in the European Parliament criticizing the danger to press freedom in Morocco, further straining relations between the two countries this year. The ambassadors from both nations have been withdrawn.
In March, when Macron declared he had a "friendly" connection with the king, Rabat said ties between the two administrations were "neither friendly nor good."
See Also: French School Abaya Ban Sparks Debate Over Religious Freedom
