While, the Arab Maghreb Union was commemorating its 30th anniversary, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took the opportunity to respond, implicitly, to the initiative made public on November the 6th by King Mohammed VI. During his Green March speech in November, the Moroccan sovereign invited Algeria to create a «joint political mechanism for dialogue and consultation». In his message to the King of Morocco, relayed on February the 16th by APS, Abdelaziz Bouteflika stated that the five countries must take a «break» to «assess the work of the Arab Maghreb Union and update it in a way that goes hand in hand with the current situation». Bouteflika's message was in line with the demands of the Algerian Foreign Ministry, voiced in November the 22nd. Days after King Mohammed VI revealed his royal initiative in November, the Arab Maghreb Union's president Taieb Baccouch called for the preparation of «a new summit».
