France backs Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara

France has given its backing to a plan for autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the only way of resolving a long-running dispute over the territory, President Emmanuel Macron said in a letter to the King of Morocco on Tuesday.

The dispute dates back to 1975, Reuters has reported. It pits Morocco, which says that Western Sahara is its territory, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which says it is an independent state.

As the former colonial power in the region, France has walked a diplomatic tightrope between Rabat and Algiers on the issue. Most of France’s Western allies already back Morocco’s plan.

“For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue must be resolved,” Macron told King Mohammed VI. “Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant. For France, it now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

The Royal Palace in Rabat welcomed the announcement and said it was a “significant development in support of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.”

Macron said in the letter that he considered that it was “the present and future of Western Sahara within the framework of Morocco’s sovereignty” and Paris would act according to this position domestically and internationally.

READ: Algeria holds France accountable for recognition of Western Sahara autonomy plan