The Moroccan Sahara issue has witnessed in recent years tangible developments on several fronts, including at the level of the African Union (AU).
This came in the speech delivered Saturday evening by King Mohammed VI to mark the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Green March.
“At the level of the African Union, and with Morocco’s return to its African family, this pan-African organization has freed itself from the manipulations it had been subjected to for years,” the Monarch said.
“The African Union has now adopted a constructive stance, which consists in providing full support – through the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council – to the United Nations Organization as the sole institution in charge,” he recalled.
Part of these tangible developments, the Monarch mentioned those that took place at the UN, such as the latest Security Council resolutions that “have laid to rest outdated, unrealistic approaches and proposals.”
Those resolutions have also insisted on the actual participation of the real parties concerned in this regional conflict and have irreversibly endorsed the political solution based on realism and consensus as the path forward.
“This policy is in line with the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, which is backed by the Security Council and the influential powers as the sole normal course of action for the settlement of this dispute,” the Monarch pointed out.
On the legal and diplomatic front, he recalled that a number of sister nations have opened consulates general in the cities of Laayoun and Dakhla, thereby explicitly and unequivocally recognizing the Moroccanness of the Sahara. “They are, thus, attesting to the security, stability and prosperity enjoyed by the inhabitants of our southern provinces,” he said.
At the same time, the vast majority of the international community refuses to endorse the views peddled by the other parties. As a result, the number of countries which do not recognize the fictitious entity now stands at 163, or 85% of UN Member States.
“This trend has been further bolstered by the adoption of constructive positions by the global powers through, for example, the conclusion of strategic and economic partnerships that incorporate – without exceptions or reservations – the Kingdom’s southern provinces, which are an indivisible part of the Moroccan territory,” King Mohammed VI stated further.
The Monarch then reiterated Morocco’s sincere commitment to cooperate with the UN Secretary-General, within the framework of the relevant Security Council resolutions so as to achieve a final solution to the Sahara issue based on the Autonomy Initiative.
“Morocco will not waver in its position. Nor will it be affected, in any way, by the useless provocations and desperate schemes of the other parties, which attest to a headlong rush, now that their outdated claims have failed.”
In this regard, the Monarch said that Morocco “categorically rejects the unacceptable practices designed to disrupt the normal flow of traffic between Morocco and Mauritania, change the legal and historical status of the territory east of the berm, or illegally exploit the region’s resources.
“As ever, Morocco will not only continue to abide by and uphold logic and wisdom, but it will also respond, with the utmost firmness and resolve, to any practices or attempts designed to undermine the security and stability of its southern provinces,” King Mohammed VI said, expressing confidence that the United Nations and MINURSO will continue to carry out their duties in terms of preserving the ceasefire in the region.