Sahara: Belgium set to join its European allies in backing Morocco’s Autonomy Plan

The Belgium federal government is expected to align its position on the Sahara with that of its major European allies (France, Spain, Portugal…) which support Morocco’s Autonomy plan offered for the territory under the Kingdom’s sovereignty, ditching the self-determination referendum option.

According to “Africa Intelligence” media platform, Belgium will announce its new position by the end of 2025 following in the footsteps of several other European countries which endorse Morocco’s serious and realistic autonomy as the ONLY basis for the resolution of the decades-long conflict.

In January, Belgian FM Bernard Quintin had said his country “deems the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, presented in 2007, as a very good basis for reaching an acceptable solution by all parties”.

He had made the remarks in Rabat following talks with Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita. “Some prominent European and international partners have changed their position”, had said the Belgian top diplomat, noting that Morocco and Belgium “will continue to engage constructively on this subject.”

In May, President of Belgium reformist party Georges-Louis Bouchez called on his country to recognize Morocco’s full sovereignty over its entire Saharan territory following in the footsteps of major Western allies including Washington, Paris, Madrid …

He introduced a legislation urging his country’s government to recognize officially Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and support the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the ONLY realistic and credible solution to the Sahara regional conflict.

According to Africa Intelligence, the Belgium reformist party looks upbeat of securing the majority of votes in Parliament in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara.