US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Sahara prompts worldwide support

The historic decision announced lately by the United States, recognizing the full sovereignty of Morocco over the entire region of Moroccan Sahara has been welcomed worldwide as a move that will enhance stability in the region and contribute to its socioeconomic development.

Swiss NGO “Promotion of Economic and Social Development” has commended the US decision announced by President Donald Trump in a phone talk with King Mohammed VI, saying it ushers in a major turning point in the economic and social development of the Moroccan Saharan provinces.

The official proclamation by a major superpower undoubtedly marks a decisive turning point in the peaceful settlement of the Sahara issue, says the Swiss NGO.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation recognizing the full sovereignty of Morocco over the entire region of the Moroccan Sahara and announced Washington’s decision to open a consulate in Dakhla, to encourage US investments and contribute thus to the region’s economic and social development.

The American proclamation also reiterated that the Autonomy Plan is “the only solution” to the dispute over the Sahara within the framework of the territorial integrity of Morocco.

“As an actor of Swiss civil society, we are upbeat over the opportunities which opened up for the region and we believe that the US decision will bring in progress, peace and stability to North Africa”, added the NGO in a press release.

The opening of an American Consulate in the city of Dakhla will undoubtedly give a new impetus to local socioeconomic development, support the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara described by Washington as “serious, credible and realistic”, underlined the NGO, hailing the leadership of King Mohammed VI and the key role of the Kingdom in Mideast peace process and stability.

In Warsaw, Head of the Polish-Moroccan parliamentary group, Tomasz Kostus welcomed the supportive US stand of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara, saying it is a “very important and historic forward step”.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry has also welcomed the US decision to recognize Morocco’s full sovereignty over all of its territories, saying “this step contributes to achieving a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.”

In a statement released Sunday, the Foreign Ministry reiterated Kuwait’s support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco.

The speaker of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Delfim Santiago Das Neves, hailed as “historic and important” Washington’s decision to recognize the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara and to open a consulate general in Dakhla.

In a letter addressed to the speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, Delfim Santiago Das Neves welcomed, in his name and on behalf of the National Assembly of Sao Tome and Principe, this “breakthrough with relevant historical content”.

He also took this opportunity to express his country’s full support for Morocco, as well as its resolve to strengthen the cordial ties of friendship and cooperation between the two peoples and the two countries, in particular in the field of parliamentary diplomacy.

Emirati news website “Al-Ayn al-Ikhbariya” said the US decision confirms the growing international support to Morocco’s territorial integrity, and deals a hard blow to the separatists.

Under the title “Moroccan Sahara: US recognition aborts a separatist project”, the news outlet said that the American recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the entire Sahara region supports the Moroccan autonomy proposal which offers “a just and lasting solution to achieve peace and prosperity”.

“Al-Ayn al-Ikhbariya” also stressed the importance of Washington’s decision to open a consulate in the Saharan city of Dakhla and bolster economic development in the Moroccan Sahara.

The growing international support to the Moroccan autonomy plan for Sahara, the recognition of Morocco’s full sovereignty over its entire Sahara after the Guerguarat events have deepened further the isolation of the separatist militias, said the Emirati news website.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory of Public Space and Democracy, on its part, said the US move is “a strong support to Morocco’s legitimate position” and to its autonomy plan offered for a lasting resolution of the Sahara.

“The US decision sends a clear message of optimism and opens the way to dialogue, which is the only way to end the Sahara dispute on the basis of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty”, affirmed Mr. Fernando Olivan Chief of the Observatory.

Spanish political scientist Pedro Ignacio Altamirano stressed in a statement MAP correspondent in Madrid that the US recognition of the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara “gives hope for the future” in order to achieve a solution to the Sahara issue within the framework of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.

“The autonomy of the Sahara within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty is the one and only realistic alternative to ensure stability and prosperity in the whole region”, he said.

In a related comment, Spanish El pais daily stated that The American decision to recognize the full and entire sovereignty of Morocco over the whole of its Sahara constitutes “the biggest setback for the Polisario” since the ceasefire decreed in 1991.

“Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara is a blow to the Polisario,” wrote the Spanish paper.

Morocco has succeeded, over the past three decades, in strengthening its position in the diplomatic and commercial fields, thanks to “powerful international alliances”, affirmed El Pais.

The paper pointed out that, since 2007, date of the presentation by Morocco to the UN of its proposal to grant autonomy to the Sahara, the UN Security Council has stopped using the word referendum in its resolutions and changed the wording describing as “credible, pragmatic and realistic”, the political solution to the conflict.

The latest UN Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2548 adopted on October 30th, call for “a political, realistic, pragmatic and lasting solution” to the Sahara issue “which is based on compromise” and repeatedly reaffirmed the preeminence of the autonomy initiative to settle the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.