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Rabat – A delegation from France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UN mission in New York has visited Laayoune to assess the operations led by the peacekeeping mission, MINURSO, a source with knowledge of the diplomatic visit confirmed to Morocco World News (MWN).
The visit of the French delegation this week covered meetings with MINURSO officials, assessing and monitoring the mission’s activities and mandate.
The visit comes as France’s ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, is also traveling to Laayoune to attend the official inauguration of the new campus of the Lycée Français International Paul Pascon.
The French embassy said in a statement on Tuesday that the visit will also include meetings with local officials, serving as a reaffirmation to France’s ongoing support for promoting economic and social development in Morocco’s southern regions
The French diplomatic delegation also comes a few weeks ahead of the UN Security Council (UNSC) review scheduled for April 30.
The review seeks to review MINURSO’s mandate, with briefings expected from UN officials, including UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.
UN Security Council Resolution 2797 last year extended MINURSO’s mandate until October 2026.
The resolution also described Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the genuine political framework to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
The consultation on MINURSO’s mandate also comes as the US pledged to review peacekeeping forces.
“We’re looking at a strategic review of the peacekeeping force in Western Sahara that has been there for 50 years,” US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said earlier this year.
The US strategy aims to ensure that peacekeeping missions do not continue “indefinitely” without results.
In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also conveyed the US pledges, planning to dismantle what Washington describes as “costly and ineffective” UN peacekeeping missions worldwide.
Rubio said the US decision seeks to lead “efforts to wind down costly and ineffective peacekeeping and special political missions around the world.”
Several reports shed light on how MINURSO failed to “deliver its mandate.”
One report published in April last year by the Atlantic Council, authored by analyst Sarah Zaimi, urged MINURSO to defund, dismantle, and terminate the mission.
