The year 2022 was that of risk-taking and the affirmation of Moroccan values in the Sahara issue. The more the years pass, the more the solution proposed by Morocco to definitively resolve the artificial conflict around the Sahara, becomes clearer as being the only valid one.
Morocco has won its fight against the separatists and Algeria by establishing itself as the party most respectful of UN resolutions, international law and the party that really seeks to put an end to this regional conflict.
Through his poise, his pragmatism and his benevolence, King Mohammed VI showed the world that Morocco does not shy away from its responsibility in the resolution of the conflict and that it wishes, in addition, to give the opportunity to the Algeria to present its points of divergence and to discuss them with a view to reaching solutions.
Aware that the real second party in the case is Algeria, Morocco has once again taken the lead in soliciting Algiers and seeking an appeasement in relations, sending clear messages of brotherhood and solidarity.
In 2022, King Mohammed VI spoke directly to the Algerian leaders and people in his speeches showing them his good faith, his willingness to put all unresolved issues on the table and move forward together towards the integration of the region.
The same year, Morocco opened its doors to the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Staffan de Mistura, to help him in his mediation mission for the Sahara.
Morocco has also made a point of upgrading its relations with several countries. Relationships that, in some cases, were unbalanced or tinged with gray areas.
“With regard to certain countries that are among our partners, traditional or new, whose positions on the Sahara issue are ambiguous, we expect them to clarify and review the substance of their position, in a way that does not lend itself to no ambiguity“, had clearly indicated the Sovereign in his speech of August 20, 2022, on the occasion of the anniversary of the revolution of the King and the people.
This is how Spain, a former colonial power in the Sahara and Morocco’s leading trading partner and a country with which historical ties are undeniable, understood the importance of adopting a straight and honest stance on the Sahara issue and to review its approach to bilateral relations.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Moroccan diplomacy, Spain has paved the way for a new relationship of equals and has not been the only Western country to understand Morocco’s message of firmness this year. Now there are 11 European countries to provide clear support to Morocco in the Sahara issue, including Germany, which had positions perceived in the past as hostile to the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.
Morocco’s cause continued to triumph internationally in 2022 with new countries expressing their support for the Kingdom, but also that of international organizations such as the Arab League which called Algeria to order in November.
The organization forced Algeria, which hosted the Arab League summit, to respect the territorial integrity of member countries, despite vain childish attempts to remove part of Morocco from the League’s official map or to introduce the Polisario militia in discussions.
Algeria suffered two new snubs, one of which was unexpected. The first was the Security Council resolution which stressed that Algeria was a stakeholder, reiterated the call for Algiers to assume its responsibilities by participating in the round table process chosen by the United Nations, Algeria to carry out a census of the populations of Tindouf, while noting the diversion of humanitarian aid.
Latest snub to date, “the call from Tangier” where former African Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers called for the exclusion of the self-proclaimed rasd (Polisario entity) from the African Union (AU) , believing that his presence as a member of the continental organization is illegal and violates its Constitutive Act.