France dismissed news reports on Monday asserting that Morocco had “rejected” Paris’ offer of financial assistance to deal with the aftermath of Friday’s massive earthquake.
“Morocco, which is a sovereign country, chose to prioritize the arrival of support, in relation to the available countries, including France,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, rejecting media speculation that Rabat had refused France’s aid due to a long-standing diplomatic crisis or “tensions” in Moroccan-French relations.
“This is really a bad fight, a completely inappropriate fight,” Colonna emphasized.
“No one said ‘no.’ Morocco has not rejected any support or offer. It requests support from one country or another according to the situation.”
Colonna noted that President Emmanuel Macron had contacted King Mohammed VI, but provided no further details.
“Let’s leave these things aside,” said the minister. “People are suffering and need help.” She noted that France will make available five million euros to fund international and French NGOs working in Morocco to provide disaster relief.
The Kingdom has already accepted offers of aid from Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
A German Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson revealed on Monday that Germany does not read any political motivation into Morocco not yet having accepted Berlin’s offer of aid. He added that Morocco has already thanked Germany for its offer of assistance, and emphasized that “diplomatic ties between Germany and Morocco are good.”
“We are sure that Rabat carefully considered the forces that could be deployed, where and how they can access the affected areas, and what transportation capabilities are available,” the spokesperson explained. He noted that after Germany’s experience with severe flooding in 2021, which resulted in casualties, Berlin appreciates very well that coordinating aid is important during major disasters to ensure that rescue teams do not hinder each other.
At least 2,862 are dead and another 2,562 have been injured from Friday’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake, according to the Ministry of Interior. It was the strongest to hit the country in the last century, according to the National Geophysical Institute of Morocco.