Why does it cost Europe so much to point out Morocco and so little Russia?

BarcelonaThe European Union repeats like a mantra that Morocco is a reliable partner and, despite growing suspicions about Rabat's involvement in the migration crisis in Ceuta, it has treaded carefully when it comes to making any kind of statement that could anger the Moroccan regime. Community sources avoid reacting to the possible link between the Mohamed VI regime and the massive entry of immigrants into the autonomous city and limit themselves to responding that it is "an internal affair" that must be clarified by the Spanish authorities.

A cautious attitude that contrasts, for example, with the one they have had with Russia. Shortly after Pedro Sánchez's government accused the Kremlin of being behind the massive entry of immigrants into Ceuta, the European Union's External Action Service claimed it had seen "attempts by Russia to exploit the crisis online", although in the same statement it admitted that they do not have "conclusive evidence to suggest that this specific crisis has been caused by foreign state actors".

Unlike Moscow, with whom Brussels has completely broken ties, the European Union has a strong bond with Rabat, especially regarding the migration issue. Morocco is not only geographically key to putting a stop to one of the most important migration routes heading to Community territory, but also to making one of the EU's main objectives in this field a reality: returning immigrants in an irregular situation to their countries of origin.

Largely for this reason, the European Commission has disbursed a large amount of investments in Morocco, especially during the last few years. The EU finances and invests millions in various fields, such as infrastructure, green energy, or social plans, as well as directly in border control. Without going any further, after the Ceuta crisis, the Euronews channel announced that Brussels plans to close an agreement with Morocco by the end of this year similar to the one it signed with Egypt, and allocate another 7.4 billion euros in investments and funding to manage migration and boost the country's economy. Community sources, however, assure the same media outlet that Brussels already wanted to advance the negotiations for this new pact before the massive entry of immigrants into the Spanish autonomous city.

In fact, Morocco or Egypt are no exception. The EU migration reform indicates that Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission must expand and sign pacts with countries that play a key role in the entry of immigrants into the European bloc, such as Mauritania, Algeria, and, among others, Tunisia. However, European states find that in the vast majority of cases, countries of origin do not accept the return of immigrants and, for this reason, the percentage of deportations that end up being carried out is around 30%, according to data from the European Commission itself.

The Moroccan lobby in Brussels

Morocco is one of the countries that play a more active role in European institutions and, in fact, it was involved in one of the most significant corruption scandals in Brussels in recent years, the Qatargate. Although the case was named after the Qatari country, the Belgian justice system's investigation soon focused primarily on the Moroccan regime and payments, gifts, and trips in exchange for influence and privileged information to a former Italian social-democratic MEP, Pier Antonio Panzeri, who was one of the heads of the plot.