Germany reaffirms to Morocco that its autonomy plan is “a basis” to resolve the conflict in the Sahara

July 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, stated this Thursday before her Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Burita, that the autonomy plan presented by Rabat for Western Sahara represents “a basis” on which to negotiate, at the end of a meeting in Berlin with which the two countries have wanted to bring positions closer after the differences of recent years.

Rabat called its ambassador in Berlin for consultations in May 2021 in retaliation for the “hostile acts” of the German authorities, including “serious” actions that questioned Moroccan sovereignty. However, the arrival of the Olaf Scholz government marked a change of course, specifically after the German Foreign Ministry recognized the autonomy plan presented in 2007 as an “important contribution” to resolving the conflict.

Baerbock has insisted this Thursday along the same lines, pointing out that said plan is a basis on which to work, one level below the Spanish position, which since March 2022 considers the initiative promoted by King Mohamed VI as “the most serious, credible and realistic” to resolve the conflict with the Polisario Front.

The head of German diplomacy has highlighted that Berlin supports the mediation work of the United Nations, personified in the figure of the envoy Staffan de Mistura, with a view to reaching “a realistic, pragmatic, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution”, according to the agency news Moroccan MAP.

Both Baerbock and Burita have agreed on the “exclusivity” of the United Nations in this area and on specific support for De Mistura’s work, despite the fact that the negotiation process remains stagnant. Rabat only contemplates limited autonomy for Western Sahara, while the Polisario claims the right of self-determination for the former Spanish colony.

Burita has arrived in Berlin after an official visit to Rome, where he obtained the endorsement of the Italian Government for the “serious and credible” efforts undertaken by Morocco to find a solution to the Western Sahara issue, as reflected in the action plan signed by the Moroccan minister and his counterpart Antonio Tajani.