23 Dec 2021; MEMO: Morocco's Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the kingdom is considering resuming bilateral cooperation and normal diplomatic representation with Germany after positive statements and constructive stances recently expressed by the new German government, Reuters reports.
It added on Twitter that "Morocco hopes that these statements will be backed up by actions to reflect a new state of mind and mark a new beginning in the relationship based on clarity and mutual respect".
In May, Morocco recalled its ambassador to Berlin for consultations in protest at what it described as Germany's "destructive attitude" towards Rabat's position on the Western Sahara issue.
Morocco has been in conflict with the Algeria-backed separatist Polisario group over the Western Sahara since 1975, after the Spanish occupation ended. It turned into an armed confrontation that lasted until 1991 and ended with the signing of a ceasefire agreement.
Rabat insists on its right to govern the region but proposed autonomous rule in the Western Sahara under its sovereignty, but the Polisario Front wants a referendum to let the people determine the future of the region. Algeria has been supporting the Front's proposal and hosts refugees from the region.
The 1991 ceasefire came to an end last year after Morocco resumed military operations in the El Guergarat crossing, a buffer zone between the territory claimed by the state of Morocco and the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which the Polisario said was a provocation.
By launching the operation, Morocco "seriously undermined not only the ceasefire and related military agreements but also any chances of achieving a peaceful and lasting solution to the decolonization question of the Western Sahara," Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, said in a letter to the UN.
