French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu arrives in Rabat on Wednesday for a two-day working visit aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation with Morocco. This marks his first official trip abroad since assuming office in late 2025, underscoring the strategic importance Rabat holds in Paris’s foreign policy agenda.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, Lecornu will hold talks with his Moroccan counterpart Aziz Akhannouch in what officials describe as a “landmark meeting” between the two governments — the first since 2019.

Diplomatic thaw and new prospects

The visit comes at a pivotal moment in France-Morocco relations, which have markedly improved since Emmanuel Macron formally recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory in summer 2024. This decision, which drew sharp criticism from Algiers, was followed by a three-day state visit to Rabat in October 2024 during which the French president was accorded lavish ceremonies and the signing of multiple economic agreements.

“The relationship has never been in better shape. Now it’s time to harvest what we’ve sown,” said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (Cermam).

Morocco takes center stage in French Maghreb policy

Observers note a clear shift in France’s North African strategy under Macron, who has abandoned the previous policy of maintaining a delicate balance between Morocco and Algeria. “The French president no longer feels compelled to balance relations between the two countries,” explained Abidi. “Algeria’s ties with France remain fragile, while Morocco has become a priority.”

The scheduled agenda includes a wreath-laying ceremony at the royal mausoleum on Thursday morning, followed by a restricted bilateral meeting and a broader joint session with both delegations. Key outcomes are expected in the form of new treaties covering economic cooperation, security partnerships, migration management, and defense collaboration.

Pierre Vermeren, historian and Maghreb specialist, suggests that Mohammed VI‘s potential state visit to Paris — the first since 2000 — could serve as the capstone of this renewed partnership. “With Algeria relations at a low, Macron cannot afford to leave the Maghreb without a success. He is turning decisively toward Morocco,” Vermeren noted. He added that Rabat could act as a bridge to help Paris re-engage with several sub-Saharan African nations, given shared security interests in combating jihadist threats in the Sahel.

Security and judicial cooperation at the forefront

Minister Nuñez will meet his Moroccan counterpart Abdelouafi Laftit to discuss several pending cases, including the possible extradition of Franco-Moroccan national Ismael Benahmed. Benahmed is suspected of involvement in a 2019 murder in Paris and was recently detained in Morocco.

Morocco has welcomed France’s vocal support for its autonomy plan for Western Sahara, which contributed to the adoption of a favorable 2025 UN resolution. The long-disputed territory, a former Spanish colony and listed by the UN as a “non-self-governing territory,” has been the subject of a decades-old conflict between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

The visit is also expected to pave the way for increased French investments in Morocco, a move intended to counterbalance the commercial drift that occurred during the 2021–2022 visa crisis. At the time, France reduced visas for Moroccan nationals by 50%, prompting Rabat to block the return of irregular migrants and seek alternative European partners.

A joint statement issued by the two foreign ministers in late May confirmed the principle of a landmark treaty, though no date has been set for Mohammed VI’s visit to Paris.