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Rabat – Spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has expressed support for his country’s new stance on the Western Sahara dispute.
Speaking on the sidelines of the first International Conference for Peace and Security in the Sahara in Las Palmas, Zapatero described Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s endorsement of Morocco’s Autonomy plan as “courageous and correct,” Moroccan state media Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported on Saturday.
Zapatero, who led the Spanish government between 2004 and 2011, stressed: “And I repeat, only courageous and difficult positions are valid in politics.”
The former Spanish minister reiterated his support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, arguing that it represents an “intermediate way” for resolving the Sahara dispute.
This is not the first time that the former Spanish head of government has applauded Morocco’s autonomy proposal and described it as the best route toward a politically feasible and lasting solution to the Sahara dispute.
Zapatero voiced his support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan in 2020, saying that it is “an ambitious and reasonable solution” to resolve the Sahara dispute.
The Spanish government followed suit in March of this year, officially endorsing Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as “the most serious and credible basis” to resolve the Sahara dispute.
In his Las Palmas statement, the former Spanish PM recalled the “favorable position” his country expressed for the Moroccan autonomy initiative when it was first introduced in 2007.
“Politics is a question of coexistence, it is a question of reaching an agreement … Coexistence is possible,” Zapatero said. He highlighted the growing international support the Moroccan initiative has been enjoying, including from the United Nations, as a “serious and credible” solution.
Read also: Western Sahara: Former Spanish Defense Minister Backs Morocco
“We cannot stand idly by in the face of an era of very serious conflicts in the geopolitical order,” Zapatero concluded.
In addition, the Saharawi Movement for Peace (MSP) has introduced the Manifesto of the Canary Island in which the group welcomed Spain’s endorsement of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most “serious, credible, and feasible” solution.
MSP secretary general Hach Ahmed Baricalla introduced the manifesto on Friday during the first International Conference for Peace and Security in the Sahara, saying that the Sahrawi movement seeks to find a peaceful and permanent solution for the Sahara dispute.
