Shortly after Morocco started some renovation work to expand its Foreign Ministry building which happens to be located next to the former Algerian Embassy, Algeria condemned on Saturday what it termed a “new escalation” in the already tense relations between the two countries and a violation of international relations.
The controversy stems from Morocco’s plan to modernize its diplomatic infrastructure, under which Morocco invoked a legal process to expropriate three buildings in Rabat owned by Algeria, according to an official bulletin of March 13, 2024. The buildings include spaces of 619 m² (630 m² with residential and office facilities), and 491 m² with a villa entitled, “Rising Sun Villa” (Villa du Soleil Levant). Rabat said the buildings constitute a “public utility,” pursuant to law no. 81-7 of April 16, 1982.
The former Algerian Embassy premises in Rabat are not involved in the legal proceedings, however, according to informed diplomatic sources, those facilities “remain respected and protected” by the Moroccan state, even in the absence of the diplomatic privileges and immunities that existed prior to Algeria’s unilateral severance of diplomatic relations.
Only one building was discussed with the Algerian authorities, and it is an unused building adjacent to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As in previous years, the government’s current expansion efforts have involved several diplomatic buildings, notably those of Côte d’Ivoire and Switzerland.
As early as January 2022, the Ministry formally informed Algerian officials on numerous occasions that the Moroccan Ministry intended to acquire the property, the sources asserted. The Algerian Consul General in Casablanca was received at the Ministry four times.
In addition, eight formal letters were addressed to Algerian authorities, who responded with at least five official letters.
In two of their letters, the Algerian authorities responded to Morocco’s correspondence by stating that a state evaluation of the assets was currently underway and that it would communicate its conclusions as soon as they were finalized, adding that the premises would be vacated and their content removed in accordance with diplomatic protocol once the sale had been concluded.
Algeria has described the proposed “confiscation” as a “violation of international conventions,” including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Yet, contrary to the assertions contained in the Algerian Foreign Ministry’s press release, sources said that even though Algeria unilaterally severed diplomatic relations on August 24, 2021, Morocco is “fully assuming its responsibilities and obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”