It was a highly anticipated gesture in Morocco, but it further poisons relations between France and Algeria. On Tuesday, July 30, Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to King Mohammed VI, in which he stated that “the present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty.” With these words, the French president confirmed his support for the Moroccan plan for autonomy in Western Sahara, submitted to the UN in 2007, to end the impasse of more than thirty years over the status of the former Spanish colony, annexed by Rabat in 1975.
At the time, this attachment to Moroccan territory was refused by the Polisario Front, a local independence political movement, supported by Algeria. It must be said that the area has significant resources, between its rich fish-filled waters and its large reserves of phosphates, used in certain fertilizers or food additives. A war opposed the two parties until 1991, when a ceasefire was established under the aegis of the UN. A self-determination referendum was supposed to take place since then, but it was never organized.
A “win-win” compromise
The Moroccan project, however, presents itself as a “win-win” compromise. If the State would preserve its territorial unity, part of its powers would be transferred to a local government, headed by a leader previously elected by the regional Parliament – but invested by the king. This “autonomous” government would notably manage the territory’s taxation – taxes, duties, revenues from natural resources – while the Moroccan State would retain its attributes linked to sovereignty (flag, currency) and its prerogatives in matters of defense and security. The proposal, rejected by the Polisario Front, had given rise to a counter-project on its part, which notably offered guarantees on the status of Moroccan residents or the joint exploitation of resources. The political movement, which controls 20% of the Sahara, also continues to call for a self-determination referendum, which it believes would be more respectful of the will of the inhabitants.
On Tuesday, Mohamed Sidati, a senior member of the Polisario Front, criticized Emmanuel Macron’s statement, saying that France supported “the violent and illegal occupation of Western Sahara.” For its part, Algeria decided to withdraw “with immediate effect” its ambassador to Paris, in protest. By adopting this position, France “flouts international legality, takes up the cause of the denial of the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and distances itself from all the patient and persevering efforts deployed by the United Nations,” the country said in a statement. Stéphane Séjourné, the head of French diplomacy, defended himself by referring to a “natural” course and an increasingly broad “international consensus” on the initiative that Morocco presented in 2007.