The appointment of Stéphane Séjourné at the Quai d'Orsay, a red rag to a bull for Morocco!

3.3M

While Emmanuel Macron is struggling to get out of the deep freeze in diplomatic relations with Morocco (see our article «France-Morocco thaw, make an extra effort!»), the appointment of Stéphane Séjourné to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is a complete red rag to the Kingdom, given how much he embodies and exacerbates the tension in bilateral relations. The President of the Renew group is blamed for being behind at least two resolutions hostile to Morocco in the European Parliament. One concerns «violations of freedom of expression», while the other aims to «adopt the same measures regarding representatives of Morocco as those against Qatar». The «at the same time» approach risks proving disastrous from a diplomatic standpoint.