Crisis Chronology

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MOROCCO

09/09/2023

More than 1000 are killed in a 6.8 earthquake, the largest seismic activity in sixty years.

04/12/2022

Morocco and Spain reestablish diplomatic relations.

04/07/2022

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez meets with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI to ease tensions over the west.

03/27/2022

Israel hosts meeting with representatives of Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, and the US.

03/18/2022

Spain changes its policy on the Western Sahara, endorsing Morocco’s plan for autonomy, not independence for the region. The Polisario Front condemns the change.

11/07/2021

King Mohamed VI says that there can be no negotiation about the western region.

10/16/2021

Leader of the Polisario Front Brahim Ghali says that the independence-seeking Saharawi army will continue attacking Moroccan positions in the disputed northwestern African territory unless a United Nations-appointed envoy is given a clear mandate to deliver on a self-determination vote.

09/22/2021

Governing coalition formed

Akhannouch announces an agreement on a ruling coalition. With his NRI, it will include the PAM and the center-right Istiqlal Party (PI)

09/22/2021

Algeria closes airspace to Morocco. Algeria is unhappy with the Moroccan position on the Western Sahara (Algeria supports the Polisario Front), its recognition of Israel (in return for US recognition of its right to Western Sahara, and fomenting conflict in Algeria by supporting the MAK (Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia), a pro-independence organization, as well as the Islamo-conservative organization Rachad, two movements classified as "terrorist organizations" by Algeria. Morocco denies these charges.

09/11/2021

King designates Akhannouch to form a government.

09/09/2021

Governing party voted out

Ruling Justice and Development Party crushed in parliamentary elections, losing all but 12 of its 125 seats. The National Rally of Independents (NRI), led by Aziz Akhannouch, won 97 seats, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) 82, and the center-right Istiqlal Party (Independence Party, PI) 78. New voting rules have made it more difficult for larger parties to win as many seats as before. The NRI was founded by a relative of King Hassan II but has since moved away from that relation and is often allied with the Constitutional Union (now the monarchy’s preferred party) and the Popular Movement. The PAM is generally allied with the monarchy. The PI is also generally allied with the monarchy.

09/08/2021

Legislative and regional elections. Turnout is expected to be low. The king still holds overwhelming power in the state.

06/01/2021

Ghali appears in court on genocide charges in Spain, but the court rules that there is not sufficient evidence to take Ghali into custody.

05/19/2021

The Spanish Audencia Nacional summons the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, to appear before it on accusations of multiple violations of human rights. Ghali refuses to sign the summons, and may be holding an Algerian diplomatic passport, which could give him immunity.

05/18/2021

5/18/21. Spain accuses Morocco of aiding a flood of migrants to Ceuta a small southern town, because of Spain’s allowing the leader of the Polisario Front to seek treatment for COVID-19 in Madrid.

12/11/2020

Israel and Morocco agree to establish diplomatic relations. As part of the agreement, US recognizes western Morocco as part of the larger country.

11/17/2020

Government says it has completed building the sand wall that follows the UN buffer zone that was part of the cause of hostility.

11/14/2020

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, the state established by the Polisario Front, declares war on Morocco, formally ending a 29-year truce.

11/13/2020

Military operation launched in the west in response to Polisario warnings.

11/13/2020

Government troops enter UN buffer zone to remove Polisario fighters blocking a road from Western Sahara to Mauritania.

11/09/2020

Polisario Front threatens to return to fighting after accusing the government of moving forces into an area patrolled by UN peacekeepers.

10/10/2020

With the medical state of emergency due to COVID-19 now extended to 11/20, King Mohammed VI calls for economic stimulus.

10/10/2020

Opponents and members of civil society in Benin have denounced the 2021 presidential election which they claim could be held without any credible opposition candidate and under questionable political circumstances orchestrated by the ruling government in light of an amendment to the electoral code and several court convictions against prominent opposition politicians.

06/14/2020

King Mohammed VI undergoes heart surgery to correct an irregular rhythm.

04/01/2020

Government making a concerted effort to have other African countries open consulates in Western Sahara. Polisario Front objects. Ten countries have done so. Other countries have recognized the Republic of Western Sahara, either formally or informally.

03/02/2020

Morocco confirms its first case of COVID-19.

01/22/2020

Legislature passes a law integrating the maritime region off Western Sahara and extending its control of the former Spanish colony.

10/14/2018

Outcry over reported military attack on boat full of migrants. Morocco becomes a focus for migrants now that Italy and Libya have restricted human smuggling.

10/10/2018

In local elections, ruling Frelimo party wins 44 of 54 municipalities, but the opposition Democratic Renewal of Mozambique protests fraud in five of them.

10/03/2018

Government rejects EU concept of migration centers in Morocco and demand more participation in EU decisions on migration.

06/27/2018

Leader of protest Popular Movement (Al-Hirak al-Shaabi) in Rif, Nasser Zefzafi, is sentenced to twenty years in prison. Demonstrations ensue, and leader of the opposition Unified Socialist Party denounces the verdict.

11/17/2017

EU reaffirms stance against Algerian-supported Polisario Front in Morocco.