Western Sahara: Switzerland Acknowledges Morocco's ‘Credible and Serious’ Efforts

Meknes – Switzerland has highlighted Morocco’s “credible” efforts toward solving the decades-long political and diplomatic stalemate surrounding the Western Sahara stalemate, suggesting that the North African country’s plan for a compromise-based political solution is the most optimal route toward a lasting resolution.

In a statement issued on December 3 following the visit of Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita to Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, the Central European country voiced its support for Morocco’s “serious and credible efforts aimed at a political compromise-based solution” to the Sahara dispute.

The country also took note of Morocco’s autonomy plan, according to the statement.

“Switzerland fully supports the United Nations’ efforts and the vital role it plays in the Sahara issue process,” said the statement, adding that a “just, sustainable, and mutually accepted political solution is achievable only through negotiations.”

Reiterating Bern’s commitment to the UN Security Council’s resolutions, the statement further stressed the need for all the parties to the Sahara conflict to be fully involved in the UN-led process for a durable political settlement.

It also highlighted the major steps taken by Morocco to put an end to the dispute, especially the Autonomy Plan that the North African Country presented to the UN in 2007.

During his talks with senior Swiss officials, Bourita thanked the Swiss Confederation for supporting the UN-led political process by hosting the confidence-building roundtable discussions in Geneva.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs notified Morocco that it would not allow an official representation of the Polisario Front at the UN Office in Geneva, nor at the Swiss Federal Council, added the statement.

The news comes nearly five months after Switzerland’s Federal Court endorsed the State Secretariat for Migration’ designation of Sahrawi refugees as “without nationality,” confirming that Switzerland does not recognize the Polisario Front.

Switzerland’s statement and its position on the Western Sahara conflict do not correspond to a full-throated support of the Moroccanness of the disputed territory. But the country’s unambiguous rejection of the Polisario Front and its embrace of the spirit of political compromise is a further indication of the increasing pro-Rabat momentum in diplomatic circles.