Morocco blocks Ikea store opening amid reports of diplomatic rift

Morocco’s government has suspended the opening of the country’s first Ikea store, in a last-minute decision reportedly linked to Sweden’s diplomatic position on Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Instead, Morocco’s Interior Ministry released a statement on Monday saying that the store’s opening had been blocked as IKEA needed a “conformity permit”.

In July the taxi transport application Uber outraged Moroccans by listing Western Sahara as a separate country in a list of countries where the applications has plans to expand. However, the referendum never took place, and attempts at further negotiation have stalled despite United Nations condemnation.

According to Le 360, Moroccan authorities held an emergency meeting on Monday at the prime minister’s office on how to deal with the situation.

Ikea had planned to open the store in Morocco’s largest mall near the city of Mohammedia in a joint venture that included Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group, Moroccan supermarket chain Marjane Holding and Portugal’s Sonae Sierra.

In 1976 the Polisario Front separatist movement declared an independent Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and has continued to push for a referendum on independence from Moroccan rule, with backing from Algeria.

Sweden and its Scandinavian neighbours largely support self-determination for Western Sahara.

It was unclear if the block was temporary or if permits would be granted for the store in the future.

But a news site close to the Moroccan Royal Court claimed that the reason was Sweden’s plans to recognize independence from breakaway republic Western Sahara. In 2012 the Swedish parliament voted to recognise Western Sahara, but the vote was not enacted by the Swedish government. Ikea, which was started in Sweden and now has its headquarters in the Netherlands, owns and operates 373 stores in 57 countries.

For Ikea, there’s a painful twist to the story, too: The company hasn’t legally been Swedish since the 1980s.