Tunis Tripartite Summit: Context and Implications for the Maghreb Union
On April 22, 2024, Tunis hosted a tripartite Maghreb summit attended by the presidents of Tunisia, Kais Saied, Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi. The summit’s final statement emphasized strengthening security coordination, protecting borders, and controlling irregular migration, especially from the African Sahel to Europe. The three leaders also pledged to enhance economic cooperation and inter-investment.
The notable aspect of the Tunis summit was not its final statement, which was typical, but its tripartite nature that broke the “quintet” rule of joint Maghreb work since the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union in February 1989. The Tunis summit did not include Mauritania or Morocco. Notably, the most significant milestone in the Maghreb building process during the early independence period, the Tangier Conference in April 1958, was also tripartite, involving the Tunisian Constitutional Party, the Moroccan Istiqlal Party, and the Algerian National Liberation Front. Libya was under British trusteeship at the time, and the three represented countries were under French colonial rule or protection, while Morocco was actively pursuing annexation claims over Mauritania led by Istiqlal Party leader Allal al-Fassi.
Algeria’s Initiative: Multiple Interpretations
The Tunis summit marked the culmination of a rapprochement between Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, initiated by a tripartite meeting on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum hosted by Algeria in March 2024. During this meeting, called by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the three leaders agreed to meet within three months and work towards enhancing consultation and partnership among their countries.
The Algeria meeting and the Tunis summit can be seen as part of Algeria’s approach to diversify economic partnerships and trade with its immediate neighbors. President Tebboune announced Algeria’s intention to establish free trade zones with five neighboring countries—Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, and Niger—by the end of 2024. In March 2024, he and his Mauritanian counterpart inaugurated a free trade zone in Tindouf, intended to boost trade and private sector partnerships, especially in banking.
While Algerian authorities assert that this African-focused approach aims to enhance continental partnerships and contribute to the African Union’s continental free trade area, regional observers interpret Algeria’s southward orientation as a response to deteriorating relations with northern neighbors, particularly France, due to Algeria’s refusal to accept repatriated irregular migrants and France’s reduction in student visas.
Algeria’s relations with Spain have also worsened significantly over the past two years due to Spain’s rapprochement with Morocco, culminating in an April 2022 Spanish statement recognizing Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara as “the most serious, realistic, and credible basis for resolving the dispute.”
Additionally, Algeria’s relations with Western Europe, its most important and closest trading partner, are strained due to its neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
These dynamics underscore the significance of the Tunis summit’s final statement on irregular migration, border security, and the call for a political settlement in Libya—topics central to the dialogue between Maghreb countries and European Union members.
Given its central geographical location in the Maghreb and its southern extension into the Sahel region, Algeria is more suited than others to play a key interlocutor role with Europeans on these issues within a Maghreb framework that excludes Morocco.
Algeria and Morocco: A Tense Relationship
In April 2024, President Tebboune stated that the tripartite framework was not directed against anyone and that the door was open to countries in the region and “our neighbors to the west.”
Official Morocco remained silent about the Tunis summit despite its potential implications for the Arab Maghreb Union, which was founded on Moroccan soil in Marrakech during a summit hosted by the late King Hassan II in February 1989, attended by the leaders of the four other Maghreb countries: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Algerian President Chadli Bendjedid, and Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya.
In contrast to the official silence, the Moroccan media extensively covered the Tunis summit, predicting its inevitable failure and the impossibility of a Maghreb framework without Morocco.
The Moroccan media views the Tunis summit as another episode in the diplomatic and political conflict with Algeria, which peaked when Algeria severed ties with Rabat in August 2021. The media highlights what it sees as Moroccan diplomatic victories, particularly regarding the Western Sahara issue and Spain’s stance, concluding that Algeria faces isolation from both the north and south, citing strained relations with Mali and Niger following military coups and failed mediation efforts.
Morocco and Tunisia’s relations have been extremely strained since President Saied hosted Polisario leader Brahim Ghali at the African summit held in Tunis in August 2022. Moroccan media portrays Tunisia’s foreign policy as being influenced by Algeria and downplays the participation of Libya’s Presidential Council head, Mohamed al-Menfi, suggesting that real power lies with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, whose absence implies Libya’s disinterest in the new tripartite framework.
Moroccan media praises Mauritania’s refusal to participate in the Tunis summit, interpreting it as evidence of the futility of Algeria’s initiative, viewing it as an attempt to break regional isolation and address internal political and social problems in Algeria.
Competing Initiatives: The Mediterranean and the Atlantic
The Maghreb region’s identity has always been divided between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Although the Mediterranean cultural identity is dominant, the Atlantic dimension has never been marginal, especially during and after the colonial era. While caravan trade brought enlightenment from the Mediterranean, the Atlantic became the primary trade and cultural exchange area during the colonial period.
The Algerian initiative, crystallized at the Tunis summit, cannot be viewed in isolation from another initiative launched by Morocco at the end of the year, announced by King Mohammed VI in a speech on the 48th anniversary of the “Green March” on November 6, 2023, called the “Atlantic Strategy for Sahel States.” The founding meeting of the initiative was held on December 23, 2023, attended by the foreign ministers of Morocco, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad. Notably, the four countries that responded to Morocco’s invitation are all Sahel countries and were part of the regional “G5 Sahel” group, which dissolved in 2023 following a wave of military coups and the rise of anti-French sentiment, leading these countries to enhance security and military cooperation with Russia’s Wagner Group.
Morocco’s initiative aims to provide landlocked Sahel countries with access to the Atlantic, a goal Morocco cannot achieve on its own due to its lack of direct geographical connection to these countries. Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea-Conakry’s absence from the Marrakech meeting was a significant setback for Morocco’s initiative, as a logistical connection to Morocco via the port of Dakhla requires the participation of these three countries.
Mauritania’s stance reflects its refusal to align with Morocco within a framework it once led, given Mali’s heavy reliance on Nouakchott’s port for imports and exports. Senegal’s position signifies a broader rift between ECOWAS and the military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, viewing Morocco’s project as a competitor, with Dakar’s port being a crucial import hub for Mali and Niger.
Western Sahara, disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front, is central to Morocco’s Atlantic strategy, with the “Atlantic Dakhla” port project being a key element. The port, in the Aarkoub area north of Dakhla, began construction in 2019 with an estimated cost of $1.3 billion, and the main connecting road (Tiznit-Dakhla) spans approximately 900 kilometers within the region.
Mauritania’s reluctance to join the Marrakech meeting aligns with its policy of neutrality regarding the Western Sahara conflict since signing the Algiers Agreement with the Polisario in August 1979.
The Maghreb Union’s Future
The longstanding rivalry between Algeria and Morocco, dating back to their independence, has shaped their regional interactions, epitomized by conflicts like the Sand War and the Western Sahara dispute. The Arab Maghreb Union’s dormancy since its last summit in 1994 reflects the ongoing tensions between the two nations, influencing their proposals for regional cooperation, both within and outside the Maghreb framework.
Today, Morocco and Algeria’s competition to lead the Maghreb region raises serious questions about the future of the Arab Maghreb Union and the broader Maghreb identity, which has historically fostered political solidarity and brotherhood, especially during the colonial period.
The Maghreb Union now seems divided between two wings: the Algerian-led tripartite framework with Tunisia and Libya, and Morocco’s Atlantic initiative. Mauritania, although the smallest Maghreb country demographically and economically, is geographically positioned to play a supporting role in the success of both initiatives and potentially mediate between Algeria and Morocco to preserve the Maghreb Union.
However, the task is challenging given the regional power struggle. Yet, the unanimous choice of Mauritania to assume the rotating presidency of the African Union for North Africa in early 2024 indicates its potential role in Maghreb reconciliation and bridging the gap between the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
