Marrakech – With less than two weeks left before the October 31 vote, Morocco World News (MWN) has received and consulted the draft resolution on Western Sahara that the UN Security Council (UNSC) is expected to adopt.
The text proposes reducing MINURSO’s mandate to just six months and explicitly frames future negotiations around Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Initiative, heralding a paradigmatic recalibration of the diplomatic nomenclature within UN corridors.
The draft resolution recalls and reaffirms “all previous resolutions concerning Western Sahara” while expressing “full support for the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, in their efforts to advance the political process, including through consultations between the Personal Envoy and Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania, to build on the progress achieved.”
Critically, the document states that “genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the most viable solution” to the 50-year conflict. It welcomes “President Trump’s leadership in resolving the Western Sahara dispute” and notes his call for parties to engage in discussions “without delay, using the Moroccan autonomy proposal as the sole framework for negotiating a mutually acceptable solution.”
The text also reaffirms the UNSC’s commitment to help the parties achieve “a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, consistent with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, including the principle of self-determination,” while acknowledging “the important role played by MINURSO in supporting the Personal Envoy to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution.”
The draft resolution references “support expressed by Member States for Morocco’s serious, credible and realistic autonomy proposal, submitted on April 11, 2007 to the Secretary-General, as the most credible basis for a just and lasting solution to the conflict.”
UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura has recently urged all parties to the dispute, including Algeria, to participate in UN-sponsored roundtables and inclusive negotiations by the end of 2025. According to Italian news outlet Agenzia Nova, de Mistura warned that “further diplomatic paralysis could trigger a dangerous military drift with regional and global consequences.”
Despite Algeria’s insistence on portraying itself as merely an “observer” in the Western Sahara dispute, Morocco has consistently stressed that the Polisario Front lacks legitimacy to represent Sahrawis. Rabat maintains that Algeria should participate in the UN-led political process as it hosts, finances, and supports the Polisario separatists.
The draft resolution welcomes “the Personal Envoy’s initiative to convene a meeting of the parties to build on this momentum and seize this unprecedented opportunity for lasting peace” and urges “full support and good faith engagement in the negotiations.”
It also expresses appreciation to the United States for its “readiness to host negotiations in support of the Personal Envoy’s mission to achieve a long-awaited solution for Western Sahara and the region.”
One more time, the text reiterates its call on all parties to “engage in these discussions without delay or preconditions, on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy proposal.”
The goal, it emphasizes, is to reach “a final, mutually acceptable political solution, guaranteeing genuine autonomy within the Moroccan state as the most viable solution, while ensuring the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” before MINURSO’s mandate expires.
The resolution also proposes transforming or terminating MINURSO based on negotiation outcomes. It requests the Secretary-General to provide regular briefings to the Security Council, including “within six weeks of the renewal of this mandate, and again before its expiration,” as well as recommendations on “transforming or terminating MINURSO based on the results of the negotiations.”
Global powers now view the Sahara pragmatically
In a long-awaited development, Massad Boulos, senior advisor to US President Donald Trump, reaffirmed that the United States will open a consulate in Morocco’s southern provinces.
“Of course, God willing,” Boulos told Asharq News when asked about the consulate plans. Referring to Western Sahara, the advisor stated, “This is the Moroccan Sahara. As we know, President Trump has affirmed Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara and emphasized the need for a lasting solution to this issue.”
The United States announced its support for Morocco’s position in December 2020, along with plans to establish a diplomatic mission in Dakhla. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo inaugurated a “Virtual Presence Post” as a first step toward creating a fully functioning consulate managed by the US Embassy in Rabat.
The Western Sahara dispute was among the topics discussed during Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita’s current visit to Moscow, as Russia is presiding over this month’s Security Council sessions. During a high-level meeting on Thursday, Bourita met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussing the Sahara dispute extensively.
“We exchanged assessments on current international issues, paying priority attention to the situation in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahara-Sahel region, and also discussed the situation regarding Western Sahara in the context of ongoing UN Security Council discussions,” Lavrov said in a press conference with Bourita.
These talks come amid reports suggesting Russia is considering a shift in its position, potentially viewing the Autonomy Plan as a form of “self-determination.” Lavrov earlier this week said that Russia will accept the Autonomy Initiative as a successful political solution to the dispute, contending that all agree on Morocco’s plan as the best framework forward.
For years, Russia has either rejected or abstained from voting on UN Security Council resolutions on Western Sahara, describing them as unbalanced. This noncommittal Russian attitude stems from Moscow’s decades-long strategic relations with Algeria, the main sponsor of Polisario’s separatist ambitions.
Bourita spotlighted the importance of the bilateral relationship, noting, “We discussed regional and international issues at length, foremost the Moroccan Sahara.” He added that the dispute “has lasted 50 years; now is the time to consider the dynamics driven by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and changes in some countries’ positions.”
The United Nations has finally acknowledged reality
In April, de Mistura executed a decisive volte-face in his diplomatic posture, categorically abandoning his previously floated partition proposal in favor of recognizing Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the sole viable conduit to conflict resolution.
This dramatic reorientation of UN mediational strategy came in the immediate aftermath of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s unambiguous reaffirmation of American support for Moroccan territorial sovereignty, dealing a crushing blow to Algerian-backed separatist aspirations.
The April diplomatic repositioning represented nothing short of a strategic capitulation by the post-colonial irredentism that has characterized the Polisario’s narrative.
At the time, de Mistura explicitly acknowledged that “the next three months will be an opportunity to verify how a new impetus based on a renewed, active engagement by some members of this Council, including permanent ones, can produce a regional de-escalation and, separately, a reenergized roadmap towards the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict.”
Three permanent Security Council members – the United States, France, and the United Kingdom – have repeatedly expressed support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, describing it as the basis for a “realistic and pragmatic” political solution.
Meanwhile, Russia and China, while maintaining what diplomatic observers characterize as a “cautious approach,” have shown “possible openness to dialogue.”
Morocco, for its part, has maintained a balanced and measured position on the Russia-Ukraine war, abstaining from UN resolutions that condemn Moscow while simultaneously reaffirming its support for the One China policy.
A potential Russian endorsement would further consign Algeria’s hegemonic regional ambitions to diplomatic obsolescence.
Morocco’s Autonomy Plan has achieved overwhelming support from the international community, with over 120 nations now considering it as the most viable political path to a lasting settlement.
Among them are global powerhouses like the US, UK, France, and Spain that see the Moroccan proposal as the most realistic and only genuine attempt at a political solution that could end the lingering conflict – not as a starting point, but as the endgame itself.
The upcoming Security Council vote represents a critical inflection point in the diplomatic trajectory of the Western Sahara dispute, potentially consolidating international consensus around Morocco’s Autonomy Initiative as the only framework for a final resolution to the decades-long conflict.
