Sahara: Belgium supports Morocco’s serious and realistic autonomy plan

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has voiced his country’s support for the autonomy plan offered by Morocco for the Sahara under its sovereignty, saying the “serious and credible” effort made by the North African Kingdom is a good basis for reaching an acceptable solution to the Sahara regional conflict.

This supportive stand comes in a joint declaration issued following the meeting of the Moroccan-Belgian High Joint Partnership Commission held in Rabat under the chairmanship of Moroccan PM Aziz Akhannouch and his Belgian peer.

In the joint statement, Belgium reiterated firm support for the UN-led process engaged for reaching “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution” to the Sahara issue.

Belgium and Morocco have agreed on the exclusivity of the UN political process and reaffirmed their support for UN Security Council resolution 2703 (2023), underlining the role and responsibility of the parties to the Sahara conflict in the search for a realistic, pragmatic, lasting political solution based on compromise.

In the joint declaration, Belgium stressed the importance of Morocco’s New Development Model and advanced regionalization scheme, and lauded the country’s reforms and the Atlantic Initiative launched by King Mohammed VI for Sahel countries, saying the move will transform the whole region and foster cooperation between the North and the South, Africa and Europe.
The two countries hailed on this occasion the momentum of their bilateral cooperation that paves the way for building a strategic win-win partnership serving the shared interests of the two countries and addressing common challenges.

Morocco offers Belgian companies a gateway for investment in Africa in various sectors including energy, agriculture, industry, mining, transportation, housing, infrastructures, telecommunications…