France endorses Moroccan autonomy plan for disputed territory

Algeria has warned that the move from Paris could exacerbate a long-running regional crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron has thrown his support behind Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, calling it the only viable route to resolving a decades-long territorial dispute over the North African region.

The French leader made the declaration in a letter addressed to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, which was made public on Tuesday by the Royal Office in Rabat.

Morocco has considered Western Sahara to be part of its territory since 1975. The North African state and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for Western Sahara, have been at war since then. The Sahrawi separatist group fought for sovereignty for 15 years until a fragile UN-brokered ceasefire took effect in 1991. However, hostilities resumed in 2020 after a UN proposal for a referendum on the former Spanish colony’s fate was stymied by disagreements over voter eligibility.

In 2007, Rabat submitted its autonomy plan for the sparsely populated territory to the UN Security Council. Morocco intends to delegate administrative, legislative, and judicial powers to local residents while maintaining the Moroccan flag and currency. The kingdom would also be in charge of the region’s foreign policy, security, and defense, which the Polisario Front has opposed.

The Moroccan government has since sought international recognition for its claims and support for the plan.

Last year, Israel became the second country, after the US, to affirm Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. France had maintained neutrality on the issue for years, resulting in strained relations with Rabat, which wants the former colonial power to recognize the Saharawi region as Moroccan.

In his letter on Tuesday, President Macron said he considers the “present and future” of Western Sahara to be part of “Moroccan sovereignty.”

“Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant. For France, it 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,” Macron wrote on Tuesday.

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The Royal Palace has hailed the French president’s decision as a “significant development in support of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.”

In a statement last Thursday, Algeria, a long-standing advocate for Western Saharan self-determination, warned against the French decision, claiming that it contradicts UN efforts toward a political settlement of the crisis. Algiers said it would hold Paris accountable for the “counterproductive” action that could escalate the conflict in the region.