Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, referred in his latest report to the Security Council on the Moroccan Sahara issue, to the letter sent by French President Emmanuel Macron to King Mohammed VI, supporting autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the only framework for resolving the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, plays a crucial role in the dynamics of this issue. This development can facilitate making progress at the Council, which, in its resolutions adopted since 2007, has already positively considered the Moroccan autonomy initiative, deeming it "serious and credible".
The new French position is also intended to support the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his Personal Envoy to relaunch the political process led under the exclusive aegis of the UN, by creating a diplomatic climate more conducive to the resumption of round tables and discussions on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy initiative.
The clear French support for Moroccan sovereignty over the southern provinces reinforces a broader recognition of the Autonomy Initiative, giving it stronger legitimacy on the international scene as the one and only possible solution to this dispute.
Some 110 United Nations Member States, including two permanent members of the Security Council, 19 members of the European Union and several countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world, as well as regional and sub-regional organizations, have expressed their support for the Moroccan proposal.
As reported in the report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council, Morocco will continue, in accordance with the High Guidelines of His Majesty the King, to intensify its diplomatic efforts to mobilize broad support for the Moroccan autonomy initiative as a realistic and compromise solution to the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
