The Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour refused on Saturday to speak in French when a journalist asked him to do so, amid tension between the two countries over France’s decision to tighten visa requirements on three north African countries including Morocco.

The social media users circulated a video clip of the Moroccan Minister during the Second African Conference on Health Risk Reduction, telling a journalist that he would only speak Arabic, English or Spanish, after the journalist had asked him to answer a question in French.

🇲🇦🇫🇷#FLASH| Une vidéo du ministre de l’Industrie Ryad Mezzour devient viral après avoir refusé de parler français 🇫🇷 et suggéré l'arabe 🇲🇦, l'anglais 🇬🇧 ou l'espagnol 🇪🇸 lors de la Conférence africaine sur la réduction des risques en santé à Marrakech. pic.twitter.com/PtAq9lV0fH

— Morocco Intelligence (@MoroccoIntel) September 29, 2023