Spain’s Support to Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for the Sahara falls within UN framework, says Josep Borrell
The Spanish government’s support to Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for the Sahara, as being “the most serious, realistic and credible basis” for the settlement of the conflict, “falls within the framework of the United Nations”, said Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
“The position of Spain, which has opted to support the autonomy proposed by Morocco, is always within the framework of the UN and the resolutions of the UN Security Council,” said the head of European diplomacy in an interview Thursday with Televisión Española (TVE), Spain’s state-owned broadcaster.
The historical change in the Spanish position on the Sahara conflict was clearly and officially expressed in a letter sent to King Mohammed VI by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on March 18.
In the letter, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Spain’s support for the Morocco-proposed autonomy proposal and the Spanish Government Presidency later that day issued a statement vowing commitment to the North African Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Borrell noted that the support expressed by Pedro Sánchez’s government to the Moroccan initiative is “similar to that adopted by Germany and France, and all these positions meet the UN Charter, which advocates a negotiated solution between the parties involved.”
“The EU continues to advocate the same approach, namely a negotiated solution between the parties,” he said, adding that the EU had welcomed, on Monday, the positive development of relations between Morocco and Spain, calling it “beneficial for the implementation of the Euro-Moroccan partnership as a whole.”
The European position is aligned with that of the UN which favors pragmatism, realism, sustainability and the spirit of compromise. It thus enshrines the pre-eminence of the Moroccan autonomy initiative as the most credible, realistic and viable solution to the artificial regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.
