France, a strange void in the varied and crazy conspiracy theories about Ceuta

In recent days, the migratory invasion launched by Morocco against Ceuta has given rise to all kinds of conspiracy theories.

What if we extrapolate to others the idea that there shouldn't be Spanish cities in Africa?
Five AIs expose a major inconsistency of Pedro Sánchez regarding the attack on Ceuta

As usual (anti-Semitism is a very common sentiment among those who like to believe in and invent all kinds of conspiracies), Israel and the Jews have been the favorite target of these theories, which, as usual, overlook notable facts, such as that Israel doesn't even have embassies or consulates in Morocco (there is only a liaison office, which is a minimal diplomatic representation), as well as the fact of the persecution suffered by many Jews in Morocco, which led, as happened in all Muslim countries, to a great exodus of Moroccan Jews to Israel.

These theories have also pointed to the United States and "Anglo-Zionism" in general, a term coined by pro-Russian propaganda networks to unify hatred of Jews and Anglo-Saxon countries. The government of Pedro Sánchez has also fueled these conspiracy theories, attributing what happened in Ceuta to a "reactionary international," a hoax that has spread simultaneously with the shameful praise of the Spanish leftist government towards Morocco, the country from which that migratory invasion originated, a an act of hybrid warfare that would never have been carried out without the consent of the Moroccan state.

As a general rule, conspiracy theories tend to reveal more by what they omit than by what they say. I already pointed this out here four years ago regarding the Kremlin's use of conspiracy theories to cover up its preparations to invade Ukraine, a very real conspiracy that curiously went unnoticed by those who like to see Jews, Americans, and "Anglo-Zionists" behind all the world's evils.

In the case at hand, there is a curious void in these theories about Ceuta, one that includes the largest country in the European Union: France. These past few days I've seen all sorts of wild and varied theories about the migrant invasion of Ceuta, but not a single one of them mentioned the French government. It so happens that for many years France has been Morocco's main European ally. Just as Pedro Sánchez did in 2022, in 2024 French President Emmanuel Macron supported Morocco's claim to Western Sahara, bypassing the UN, an organization in which France holds a permanent seat and veto power on the Security Council.

A few weeks ago, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described his country's relations with Morocco as "exceptionally positive," despite the controversy surrounding Moroccan spying on French officials in 2021 using the Pegasus system, when relations between the two countries were at a low point. In mid-July, France and Morocco signed cooperation agreements on energy, transportation, water, migration, security, and defense. France is currently seeking to strengthen its relationship with Morocco as compensation for Paris's declining influence in other African countries, in the face of growing Chinese and Russian influence.

Two days before the signing of those agreements, King Mohammed VI wrote a letter to Macron stating: "Under our joint leadership, Morocco and France have inaugurated a historic stage in the consolidation of their privileged relations. Their ambition is to establish the Enhanced Exceptional Partnership as a benchmark, a vector of prosperity, and a lever for the future."

In defense matters, in recent years France has been the second largest exporter of military equipment to Morocco, second only to the United States. In economic matters, France is the second largest exporter to Morocco (the first being Spain) and the fourth largest importer (the first being Spain, Communist China, and the United States). In the EU, only one country has a positive trade balance with Morocco (that is, it exports more to that country than it imports from it): France.

Significantly, on Friday, July 31, 24 hours after the start of the migrant invasion of Ceuta, Macron applauded the cooperation of Sánchez's government with Morocco, aligning himself with the Spanish executive's line of showing complacency towards Rabat. A few hours later, and very significantly, France was notably absent from the letter signed by 22 European Union countries against Sánchez's migration policy, a letter signed, among others, by Germany, Denmark (with a Social Democratic Party government), Italy, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

Of course, none of this means that France had any involvement in the migrant invasion of Ceuta. Nor do I believe that this act of hybrid warfare was instigated by the United States, Israel, or Russia, a country that also has considerable trade relations with Morocco (it helps them launder their oil). What is significant is that conspiracy theorists had as many reasons to link France to what happened as they did to the others they pointed to, but I prefer to focus on their favorite obsessions, starting with the Jews. It's truly curious.

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Photo: AFP. French President Emmanuel Macron and King Mohammed VI of Morocco shaking hands during the French president's state visit to Morocco in October 2024.