Who is Robert Dölger, the new German Ambassador in Rabat?

Robert Dölger is the new German ambassador in Rabat. His appointment came after the approval of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

On Wednesday, the German Foreign Ministry received Rabat’s approval for its new ambassador to Morocco, Robert Dölger, the diplomat’s accreditation having been accepted by the Moroccan authorities.

Robert Dölger is considered one of the veterans of the German diplomatic corps and can look back on a long experience. He joined the German Foreign Ministry in 1991, and rose through the ranks, holding several administrative posts and diplomatic missions.

He had previously assumed diplomatic responsibility in Burkina Faso in the mid-1990s. He also had diplomatic experience in the Middle East, heading the Lebanese crisis unit at the German Foreign Ministry, before becoming head of the Middle East department. East within the same ministry.

Between 2015 and 2018, Dölger served as Minister Plenipotentiary at the German Embassy in Ankara. In addition to a number of his diplomatic duties in a group of European and Asian countries, he previously served as First Secretary at the Permanent Mission to NATO.

In addition to this background, Dölger has significant experience in economics, through which he led the Middle East and Africa region at the German Industry Association.

The appointment of Dölger comes after the end of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries following the first telephone conversation, which took place on February 16, between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbockk, to “start a new dialogue in order to overcome misunderstandings and deepen the multifaceted bilateral relations”.

Indeed, in March 2021, Moroccan diplomacy had decided to suspend all contact with the German embassy in Rabat and, consequently, to freeze its relations with Berlin.

The cause of this conflict was above all the German position on the Sahara issue, upset by Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara in December 2020, to the point of calling an emergency meeting at the Security Council of the UN to discuss the matter.

Among the other grievances held by Rabat against Berlin, the absence of an invitation from Morocco to the conference organized on Libya in the German capital in January 2020, or the case of Mohamed Hajib, a Salafist holder of German nationality, resident in Germany, and whose kingdom is asking for extradition after the broadcast of videos in which it calls for attacks against Morocco.