The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco Nasser Bourita has admonished that Algeria seems self-assured to start a conflict with Morocco. The minister made this caution comes just two days after King Mohammed VI’s message to Morocco’s eastern neighbor on November 6, 2024.
The warning was delivered on Friday, November 8, as the foreign minister presented his department’s draft budget for the 2025 fiscal year to the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs, Migration, and Moroccans Living Abroad Committee.
Bourita stated that there are “signs indicating Algeria’s intent to start a war in the region and engage in military conflict with Morocco”. The foreign minister stressed that Algeria is actively trying to “escalate” and push for “confrontation” with the kingdom.
According to Bourita, a likely war could be Algeria’s response to Morocco’s recent diplomatic gains on the Sahara issue, including France’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the region—a departure from Algeria’s traditional statements of disapproval.
Political commentators in north Africa say perhaps it would appear that the political class in Algiers believe that a conflict at this time could serve Algier’s interests by deflecting public attention from the country’s ongoing political and economic crises, including the Hirak movement and shortages of essential goods.
King Mohammed VI, on November 6, 2024, pointed out in his speech that there are those who “use the Sahara issue as a smokescreen to hide their domestic problems”.
Meanwhile, regional observers say the evolving crisis between both nations is not new. On November 24, 2021, hours after Morocco and Israel signed a military cooperation agreement in Rabat, an Algerian military source urged his country to go to war against Morocco, stating, “We must act now because we are militarily superior at all levels, which may not be the case in a few years”, as he said the French newspaper L’Opinion.
Morocco has since then strengthened its Royal Armed Forces (FAR) with new weaponry and commenced its own military industry program—developments that have increasingly concerned Algeria.
For its part, Algeria, in the 2025 budget, has appropriated US$ 25 billion for its military, up from $21.6 billion in 2024 and $18 billion in 2023.
The genesis of the current tension stems from events of three years ago. On 24 August 2021, Algeria severed ties with Morocco, accusing Morocco of supporting the separatist movement for the self-determination of Kabylia, allegedly in retaliation for Algeria’s historical support of the Sahrawi Republic independence in the Western Sahara.
