A Moroccan official source affirmed that the State Visit by French president Emmanuel Macron to Morocco, as announced by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, is neither programmed nor on the agenda.
Colonna had told news channel LCI, on Friday, that King Mohammed VI had invited the French head of state to visit Morocco in the near future.
The source voiced its astonishment that the French official had made such big announcement “unilaterally”, and without consulting with the party concerned.
Colonna’s interview comes amid inflammatory comments made by several French media outlets on Morocco’s response to France’s relief offer following the violent earth quake that rocked the North African country last week. Morocco had thanked all countries offering help, however, it had explained that it is accepting assistance depending on the needs that were identified after careful assessment. The Kingdom had initially accepted help from the UK, Qatar, the UAE and Spain. “Randomly approving relief offers would definitely backfire, as coordination would become harder,” the Interior Ministry had clarified.
Colonna had stated during this interview that it is inappropriate, even useless, to question choices and decisions made by a sovereign country, namely Morocco, and give them political and diplomatic dimensions.
“Relations between France and Morocco are longstanding and old, they are based on a deep friendship between the two peoples. The President of the Republic has been invited to visit Morocco, and I think time is ripe for such visit,” she had announced.
Colonna had stated that a date is yet to be set for this purported state visit, which, according to her, would be in the interest of both countries and peoples.
The interview took place in a studio with a Moroccan interior decor, which can be interpreted as an attempt to ease tension between the two countries.