By Sheriff M. Hydara
In a letter to His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, French President Emmanuel Macron, officially informs the Sovereign that he “considers that the present and future of Western Sahara lie within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” the Royal Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
In this letter, the French President assured His Majesty the King of “the inviolability of the French position of this issue of national security for the Kingdom” and asserts that his country “intends to act consistently with this position both nationally and internationally.”
In this regard, President Emmanuel Macron stresses that “for France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue shall be resolved. Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant,” adding that this plan “constitutes now the only basis for achieving a just, lasting, and negotiated political solution, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
As a permanent member of the Security Council and a connoisseur of the Sahara issue, France’s position is a significant development in supporting Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, because France is the country who knows the issue in depth, both historically and legally.
The French’s position is also a contribution to regional peace and stability and to strengthen the international dynamic that many countries already support and thus putting an end to a conflict inherited from another era.
With this decision, France is supporting the development of the Moroccan Sahara region and moving towards a solution, rejecting the policies of stalemate and the worst-case scenario that are mortgaging the future of the Maghreb.
This announcement from the French Republic is part of the momentum spurred by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and supported by numerous countries worldwide, (USA, Arab, Africa, Caribbean, Europe), advocating for Morocco’s territorial integrity and the autonomy plan as the exclusive framework for resolving this regional dispute.
