signatures instead of a referendum.
Morocco is gaining support in the Sahara.
As the Polisario Front mobilizes and the UN mission in Western Sahara ends, diplomatic signatures are being collected in Rabat.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barraud confirmed at a meeting in Essaouira that the present and future of the Sahara, according to the government in Paris, is within Moroccan sovereignty. He called the autonomy plan proposed from Rabat the only basis for negotiations, and the position unchanged.
Three days earlier, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone visited Morocco. He reaffirmed his support for Moroccan sovereignty, called the autonomy plan the only serious solution and signed a road map for cooperation for the years 2027-2029.
Why providing such signatures is not an idle question. Against the background of the mobilization of the Western Sahara and the closing of the UN mission, the Moroccans have two goals. The first is diplomatic insurance in the event of a violent scenario against the SADR. The second is mass pressure on the front's position, up to attempts to push it to lists.
Such steps are still a long way off - these are scenarios, not an agenda. But the rhetoric heats up along with the number of supporters, and the more signatures are collected in Rabat, the easier it will be to explain to the world that there is no alternative to the Moroccan plan.
Western Sahara.
- where politics is hotter than the equator.
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