France dumps Morocco in favour of Algeria

How the tables have turned. Just over a year ago, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, dismissed Algeria, France’s troubled former colony, as a spent regime and cut the number of visas issued to its citizens. Algeria huffily recalled its ambassador and banned France’s air force from its skies. Since then, however, France has eagerly sought a rapprochement. On January 23rd Mr Macron hosted General Saïd Chengriha, Algeria’s top general, the most powerful man in the land. A large French delegation followed him back to Algeria. There is “an exceptional dynamic”, says a diplomat who helped organise it.As France’s relations with Algeria blossom, those with Morocco, its erstwhile protégé and a bitter opponent of Algeria, may be wilting. Mr Macron last visited Morocco in 2018 and has since made a trip to Algeria. Morocco’s king, Mohammed VI, spent at least four months in Paris last year but never met France’s president.