France took a major step towards Rabat on Tuesday, reinforcing its support for Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara, now considered “the only basis” for resolving the conflict with the Polisario separatists, which dates back nearly 50 years.
With this decision, decried last week by Algiers, which supports the Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario denounced France’s support for the “violent and illegal occupation” of Western Sahara.
The gesture from Paris was expected by Morocco, for whom the Sahara issue is a “national cause” and whose relations with France had cooled considerably in recent years.
“This is clear support for Moroccan sovereignty,” Moroccan ambassador to Paris, Samira Sitaïl, told AFP.
Without expressly recognising the “Moroccanness” of Western Sahara, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a letter addressed to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the anniversary of his enthronement 25 years ago, said he considered that “the present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty”.
“For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue must be resolved. Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant,” he added.
In this letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, he states that the Moroccan plan “now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is controlled largely by Morocco, which is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty. It is claimed by the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, who are demanding a referendum on self-determination, planned during a ceasefire in 1991 but never organized.
The UN considers this territory, with its rich fish waters and significant phosphate reserves, to be a “non-self-governing territory”.
Development “imperative”
“The pursuit of the economic and social development of this region is imperative. I welcome all the efforts made by Morocco in this regard. France will support it in this approach for the benefit of local populations,” wrote Mr. Macron.
“This announcement by the French Republic, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, constitutes an important and significant development in support of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara,” the Royal Cabinet welcomed in a statement.
Emboldened by the recognition by the American administration of Donald Trump at the end of 2020 of its sovereignty over this territory, in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since deployed offensive diplomacy to rally other countries to its positions.
In 2022, Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara, made an about-face by abandoning its neutrality on the subject and judging the Moroccan initiative “as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute”, thus heating up tense relations with Rabat.
The head of Sahrawi diplomacy, Mohamed Sidati, castigated the French inflection.
“The French government is no longer hiding it: by officially declaring these days that it supports “the Moroccan autonomy plan”, it is the violent and illegal occupation of Western Sahara that France is supporting,” he said.
Algeria, which broke off relations with Morocco in 2021, particularly on this issue, had expressed its “disapproval” last Thursday of an “unexpected”, “inopportune and counterproductive” decision from Paris, indicating that it had been informed of it a few days earlier.
“The subjects that annoy are outdated”
In an allusion to France and Morocco, she had denounced “colonial powers, old and new, (who) know how to recognize each other, understand each other and extend helping hands to each other.” She “will draw all the consequences that flow from this French decision,” Algerian diplomacy had threatened.
The policy of rapprochement with Algeria desired by Emmanuel Macron had irritated Morocco to the highest degree and other issues had reinforced bilateral tensions in recent years.
“The subjects that cause controversy are behind us, even outdated,” said Samira Sitaïl. “We have regained an extremely high level of confidence that makes us believe that we will move forward very, very quickly in the coming months.”
A state visit by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Paris, planned for the end of September, could be called into question, according to the Algerian news site TSA, which anticipates a “new diplomatic row” with France.