Morocco

26 August 2022; MEMO: Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that the view adopted by a group of European countries and others that the autonomy initiative is the basis for a solution to the issue of the Sahara region does not contradict international efforts.

13 August 2022; MEMO: France has expanded visa restrictions to include former Moroccan ministers, officials and businesspeople, Rai Al-Youm online newspaper reported on Friday.

Controversy over the French visa policy relating to Moroccans has moved from social to mass media, condemning Paris's "degrading policy" concerning Moroccans who apply for visas to visit France.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Demonstrators in Morocco have branded their government as traitorous over Rabat's on-going normalisation with Israel and its refusal to condemn the Israeli military over its act of aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday, which lead to the death of 44 Palestinians including 15 children.

Carrying banners, Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs, protesters chanted "Oh, traitor rulers" yesterday in Casablanca's Sraghna Square.

04 August 2022; MEMO: More than 22,000 Moroccans have signed an online petition against the hosting of the famous German beer festival, Oktoberfest, in Casablanca in October.

On 19 July, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce had announced the plans to hold the festival. It said on its Facebook page that the festival would take place in a large tent that could accommodate 300 persons, who would pay between 800 and 1400 dirhams (between $78 and $133) to attend.

02 August 2022; MEMO: Israel said, Tuesday, it has signed a contract to build the headquarters of the Israeli Embassy in Morocco, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"I am pleased to share this photo of this historical moment of signing the contract of establishing a permanent embassy in Morocco," Israeli Ambassador, David Govrin, said on Twitter.

The Israeli diplomat said the move "heralds the beginning of a new era" in Israel's relations with Morocco.  There was no comment from Moroccan authorities on the report.

31 July 2022; MEMO: Morocco's King Mohammed VI has reiterated calls to restore diplomatic ties with Algeria, which severed ties with Rabat last year citing "hostile tendencies" towards Algiers following the kingdom's decision to resume relations with Israel in 2020.

27 July 2022; MEMO: The US Defence Department is considering an alternative country to host the largest military exercise in Africa instead of Morocco.

22 July 2022; MEMO: Israeli citizens are at the top of the list of applicants requesting entry visas to visit Morocco, a Moroccan government spokesman, Mustapha Baitas, said Thursday.

Baitas told reporters that the Moroccan Government has recently launched an electronic platform for obtaining entry visas with the aim of reviving tourism in the country, adding that a majority of the visa applications received by Moroccan authorities come from Israel, which has reached 4,241 requests, so far.

23 July 2022; MEMO: One of the central goals of the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi's visit this week to Morocco is to advance arms deals. Morocco has purchased military equipment from Israel worth $1.2 billion over the past two years, and Israel intends to double this amount, according to a report on Friday in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth by military analyst Alex Fishman.

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — The European Commission vowed Friday to step up its work with Morocco to fight human smugglers who are using “new, extremely violent methods” — a move that comes two weeks after 23 people died at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.