Morocco's King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron during the signing ceremony at the Royal Palace in the capital Rabat on October 28. (Source: Reuters)

This is the Elysee Palace chief's first official visit to the African country since November 2018 and the first meeting between the two leaders since President Macron and King Mohammed VI jointly inaugurated the $2 billion Tanger-Casablanca high-speed railway during a visit nearly six years ago.

Accompanying President Macron this time is a powerful delegation of nine ministers, including the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, economy, interior, higher education and leaders of 50 leading French enterprises such as TotalEnergies, Engie, Safran, Alstom...

King Mohammed VI personally went to Rabat-Salé airport and welcomed the French guest with a 21-gun salute. Afterwards, the two leaders held talks at the Royal Palace and witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation agreements worth more than 10 billion USD in many fields, from security, economy to agriculture, environment, education, etc.

According to the North Africa Post, Mr. Macron's visit this time is historic, reflecting the deep relationship between Morocco and France, with "an ambitious new vision in many areas of strategic cooperation between the two countries, while helping to heal the relationship after many years of tension".

Since the 2018 visit, the historically close relationship between Paris and Rabat has cooled as a number of differences have arisen. First, in 2021, France decided to halve the number of entry visas issued to Moroccan citizens, in retaliation for Rabat’s refusal to accept illegal immigrants to France. Then, following criticism from the European Parliament over freedom of expression in Morocco, Rabat left its ambassadorship in Paris vacant from January to October 2023.

In particular, the relationship became even more icy when Paris expressed an "ambiguous stance" on the issue of the disputed Western Sahara territory between Rabat and the pro-Algerian Politsario front alongside the Elysee Palace's head of state's efforts to get closer to Algiers.

However, tensions between the two sides began to cool down after President Macron, in early July, sent a letter to King Mohammed VI. In the letter, the French President stated that "the present and future of Western Sahara are within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty". This move pleased Morocco, which saw it as France's support for Rabat's plan for autonomy for Western Sahara.

In the context of Morocco's growing influence in Africa and the Arab world, and France's need to maintain, protect and expand its influence and inherent interests in the continent in the face of fierce strategic competition in the region, the results achieved from this "reconciliation" trip by President Macron and the warm welcome of the King of Morocco promise to open a new, more stable page for the relationship that has been historically connected but also had many ups and downs between France and Morocco.