Real Partners or Just Neighbors the EU is Afraid of? : Researching North African political leadership and their rhetoric when talking about the European Union

This thesis set out to investigate how North African political leaders in the Southern Neighborhood speak about their relationship with the European Union. A content analysis on public statements made by political leadership over a period of almost eight years was conducted to investigate what behaviour, attitudes and ideas of the relationship were being projected by the political elites in Morocco and Algeria, the two countries in the Southern Neighborhood with longstanding Association Agreements with the European Union and among the highest degrees of press freedom within the Southern Neighborhood. Based on statements from political elites between the years 2016 to 2023, the analysis indicates that while neither Morocco or Algeria is being dominated in the partnerships, there still exists in their view an unequal distribution of responsibility in EU-SN partnerships. The value of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed and potential avenues for future research are presented in the final chapter of the thesis with the primary conclusion being despite negative sentiments from both Morocco and Algeria towards the EU, both relationships are largely free from political domination.