The UN Security Council endorses Morocco's plan for Western Sahara

BarcelonaThe UN Security Council on Friday approved a resolution on Western Sahara that represents a major diplomatic victory for Morocco. The text (adopted with 11 votes in favor, none against, and 3 abstentions: China, Russia, and Pakistan, while Algeria refused to participate in the vote) validates the autonomy plan proposed by Rabat as the central basis for negotiations to resolve the conflict with the Polisario Front, which demands independence for the territory. The resolution, sponsored by the United States with the support of France, marks a significant shift in the UN's approach, traditionally based on the right to self-determination and holding a referendum to decide the fate of the former Spanish colony.

The formal objective of the meeting was to renew the mandate of the UN mission in the territory (MinursoThe Intergovernmental Committee for the Defense of Western Sahara (CWDS), created in 1991 to prepare for this referendum, which has never been held, has been used by Rabat's allies—the United States, France, and the United Kingdom—to introduce a new orientation favorable to the Moroccan plan. This is a consequence of Trump's shift in position, who in 2020 proclaimed Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel. Spain, Germany, and France have also expressed their support for the autonomy proposal put forward by Rabat.

The adopted resolution calls for negotiations "based on the Moroccan framework" and indicates that "genuine autonomy" could be the most viable solution. However, the final version of the text was softened in response to Algeria's resistance and to avoid vetoes from Russia or China, with conditional phrasing. The reference to the right to self-determination has also been strengthened, and the mandate of the Minurso for a year, instead of the three months initially planned by the Americans.

Mohammed VI declares victory

King Mohammed VI of Morocco celebrated the UN resolution in a televised address in which he appeared triumphant. "We are opening a new, victorious chapter in the process of consolidating Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, destined to definitively close the book on this artificial conflict" with a solution "based on the Autonomy Initiative." The monarch thanked Donald Trump for his support, as well as that of France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Mohammed VI also offered a "sincere and fraternal" dialogue to the President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the main backer of the Sahrawi cause. All of this comes on the 50th anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco, which Morocco used as an opportunity to occupy the territory of the former Spanish colony with the so-called Green March.

Polisario's anger

The Polisario Front considers the resolution unbalanced in favor of Morocco and denounces it as an "imposition by the United States." The removal of the mention of the alternative plan proposed by the Polisario in 2007 reinforces the feeling that the UN is siding with the Moroccan project. Meanwhile, Washington is promoting a broader strategy to foster reconciliation between Algeria and Morocco, with the goal of signing a peace agreement within sixty days. According to Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, resolving the Sahrawi conflict would facilitate regional détente. The adopted resolution thus represents a milestone for Morocco and its allies, but it also reveals the deep international divisions over the future of Western Sahara, a protracted conflict that remains one of the main sources of tension in the Maghreb.