First Independent Mena Newspaper
Morocco has urged Algeria to respond officially to the proposal solemnly made by King Mohammed VI on November 6 for a direct and candid dialogue between the two neighboring countries in order to dispel the transient and objective differences that are impeding the development of bilateral relations. This came at a meeting held Monday in […]
Respect for territorial integrity of member states is a sine qua non for achieving the long-sought integration of the Maghreb Union (AMU), Morocco’s Lower House Speaker Habib El Malki told AMU’s Secretary General Taieb Baccouche. During a meeting in Rabat, the two officials highlighted the wasted potential of the Maghreb as it continues to be […]
Algerian officials continue to issue statements calling for reviving the paralyzed Maghreb Union, a five-member regional grouping also comprising Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya. Recently, President Abdelaziz Boutefika sent messages on the 29th anniversary of the Union to Maghreb leaders urging collective efforts to reinvigorate the union. Few days later, Algeria’s Foreign Minister said, during […]
King Mohammed VI has deplored that the non-existence of the Maghreb Union has made collective efforts to tackle migration and other regional challenges ineffective. “Our regional groupings could have dealt with the situation more effectively. In fact, one could rightly think that if the Arab Maghreb Union had really existed, we would have been stronger […]
In the face of the paralysis crippling the Maghreb union, Tunisia is following the example of Morocco by repositioning itself on the African continent. Tunisia’s bid to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is thus part of an endeavor to seek regional integration facilitating the flow of goods and investments in an […]
Tunisian former Foreign Minister became Thursday Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU.) The 72-year-old former diplomat was appointed by the AMU Foreign Ministers Council at the 33rd session held in Tunis. Bacchoube will replace country-man Habib Ben Yahia, outgoing Secretary General of the AMU. Bacchoube was Tunisia’s Foreign Minister from February 2015 to […]
Over the past weekend, the Ukrainian government was ousted, Ukraine’s parliament reinstated the 2004 constitution and former President Victor Yanukovich is on the run in Russia. One might be forgiven to think of these developments in isolation. But it is in fact a reminder that reactionary regimes rarely deliver the sort of stability they are […]
Despite the fact that the Maghreb countries constitute one region that is culturally, geographically and historically integrated, they have largely failed to achieve ‘functional integration’ particularly at the political and economic cooperation level. The “non-Maghreb” is a term coined by some experts referring to the enduring phenomenon of the Maghreb countries’ failure to boost their […]