Ireland to open embassy in Morocco in 2021

Expert says Morocco is seen as a strategic location to also begin to develop closer ties with other Maghreb countries and Francophone West Africa.

LONDON - Ireland is expected to open an embassy in Morocco next year as part of its diplomatic push in the African continent, according to the Irish Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account on Thursday.

The announcement of Ireland’s diplomatic mission in Morocco was welcomed on social networks as the move will further boost ties between Dublin and Rabat.

“It's very much part of Ireland's post-Brexit diplomatic strategy, which has seen Ireland strengthening its diplomatic network within the EU, but also in countries that are of key strategic importance to the EU, which is clearly the case with Morocco,” said Chloe Teevan, a researcher at the European Centre for Development Policy Management.

“I think the Embassy is likely to cover more than just Morocco, but Morocco is seen as a strategic location to also begin to develop closer ties with other Maghreb countries and Francophone West Africa,” Teevan told Middle East Online.

“I imagine this embassy will for example also cover the Sahel, which is clearly very important for the EU, and where Ireland has staff taking part in EU CSDP missions,” she said.

“But Ireland will also want to follow the evolving EU-Morocco relationship more closely, given that there are negotiations underway to develop a very close relationship,” she added.

The United Kingdom, which is the only sovereign country that shares a land border with Ireland, has recently bolstered its post-Brexit ties with the North African kingdom.

The Moroccan government approved in June an agreement preserving the partnership between Morocco and the UK almost eight months after the two countries signed the Association Agreement in London that would preserve bilateral ties between Rabat and London in the post-Brexit period.