Fez – Italian political expert, Massimiliano Boccolini, said on January 23 that Algeria plays a crucial role in the Western Sahara conflict.
In an interview with Morocco’s State media (MAP), the expert described Algeria as a central player in the Sahara dispute and urged the Algerian regime to “assume responsibilities and take part in the political process, based on dialogue.”
Speaking of Algeria’s decision to escalate tensions with Morocco, Boccolini deplored what he called “irrational” and reckless behavior.
The Italian expert argued that Algeria’s obsession with undermining Moroccan interests is the source of many threats in the North African region.
He also spoke of Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan, describing it as the sole “peaceful and logical” way of resolving the Western Sahara conflict.
Of the UN-led process to settle the Sahara dispute, Boccolini said that UN Security Council Resolution 2602 was clear about Algeria’s status as a full-throated party to the conflict.
Adopted in October 2021, the resolution echoed the Security Council’s repeated calls for a “realistic, practicable, enduring and mutually acceptable political solution.”
Another Italian expert in geopolitics, Marco Baratto, also explained in an interview with MAP that there would be no Polisario Front without Algerian support.
Baratto described Algeria’s position on the Sahara conflict as “bad,” noting that the realism and compromise spirit of the UN-led process constitutes “a new blow that stuns Algiers and exposes its lies.”
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The experts’ remarks come a few days after UN envoy for Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura’s tour in Western Sahara.
The majority of observers and diplomats are urging for a workable and realistic solution in line with Morocco’s Autonomy Plan.
But with Polisario and Algeria having rejected the latest UN resolution, observers say their displeasure with the UN consensus signals a desire to undermine the UN-led political process in hopes of forcing the UN to reinstate the largely disqualified self-determination referendum.
