Morocco has decided to put an end to Mohamed Benchaaboun’s duties as ambassador to the French Republic.
The news was announced in a press release published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Thursday evening, in the Official Journal No. 7166, in the section “Announcements and press releases”. The latter reports the decision to terminate the functions of Mohamed Benchaaboun from his post in Paris, as of January 19 in these terms: “Following royal instructions, it was decided to end the mission of Mohamed Benchaâboun as His Majesty’s ambassador to the French Republic, as of January 19, 2023”. Mohamed Benchaaboun was appointed, on October 18, managing director of the Mohammed VI Investment Fund.
As a reminder, the date of the decision to dismiss the Kingdom’s ambassador to France from his post comes the day the European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution calling on the Moroccan authorities to “respect the freedom of the press”.
In this regard, the chairman of the Morocco-European Union (EU) joint parliamentary committee, Lahcen Haddad, said that Morocco was facing a number of MEPs who use the European Parliament (EP) as a platform to attack Morocco. in an organized manner and with great resources.
Haddad also believed that “part of the French deep state” was behind the adoption of the European recommendation highlighting his involvement in appointing a close friend of the French president, MEP Stéphane Sejourné, president of the Renew group. Europe (Liberal Center) since 2021. Lahcen Haddad accusing him of having been one of the architects of the decision and played a decisive role in the condemnation of Morocco by the European Parliament.