Bruselas respalda el cambio de postura de España en el Sáhara Occidental

The European Commission has welcomed Spain's change of position on Western Sahara. In the words of the EU's foreign affairs spokesperson, Nabila Massrali, the surprise decision of Pedro Sánchez's government "benefits" the EU's relations with Morocco. However, she made it clear that the issue of territorial status should be resolved through the channels of the United Nations.

"The European Union welcomes all positive developments between its member states and Morocco in their bilateral relationship, which can only be beneficial for the implementation of the Euro-Moroccan association agreement as a whole," Massrali said during a press conference on Monday. Brussels is thus giving its approval to a position that has also been adopted by members such as Germany and France, the latter in a more ambiguous manner.

Morocco's diplomatic offensive at the European level seems to have borne fruit. The Alawite kingdom's representative in Brussels, Youssef Amrani, has led a campaign of persuasion that has succeeded in record time in convincing two major EU partners, Germany and Spain, which have been opposed for decades to recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, after several months of diplomatic tension.

Pedro Sánchez on Friday broke Spain's historic neutrality in the conflict by 'de facto' recognising Morocco's control over the region. The Spanish prime minister sent a letter to King Mohammed VI in which he recognised Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara as the "most serious, realistic and credible" of all the solutions so far to resolve the dispute between Rabat and the Polisario Front.

The principle of rapprochement has satisfied the EU-27. Morocco's relations with EU member states remain positive, as the foreign affairs spokeswoman's statements reveal, despite the cancellation in September of trade and fisheries agreements between Rabat and Brussels. A ruling by the EU's General Court prevented the Alawi kingdom from exporting agricultural products to Europe from the Western Sahara region without the approval of the Polisario Front.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, then pledged to maintain trade relations with Morocco in a joint appearance with Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita, and since then the European Commission has done its utmost to strengthen pre-existing ties with Rabat. This is a crucial issue for the Alawi kingdom, as the EU is its largest trading partner.

The recent visits to Morocco by Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, who sealed important investment and cooperation agreements, underline that the EU's strategic interest in North Africa is channelled through the Alawi kingdom, a partner that has close trade relations with several EU member states.

However, during her appearance, the spokesperson insisted that the solution to the conflict "must be based on commitments in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution". Massrali stressed that the solution for Western Sahara "must be political, just, realistic, pragmatic, sustainable over time and mutually accepted". This position was reaffirmed on Monday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, who was in charge of announcing the Spanish government's change in foreign policy.

The UN Special Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, received Albares in Brussels on Monday, three days after the announcement of the Spanish government's decision. The decision to accept the Moroccan autonomy plan has meant a 180º turnaround in Madrid's traditional position on the most important national question in foreign affairs, and has become a derivative that directly influences the UN's action on the dispute.

In what was the third face-to-face meeting between Albares and De Mistura since the latter took up the post of special envoy in Western Sahara, the two discussed the dispute that began in 1975 with Spain's withdrawal from what was once its 53rd province. This withdrawal was prompted by the growing weakness of Franco's regime and King Hassan II's appeal with the mobilisation of the Green March.

According to Albares, the aim of the meeting was to convey to the veteran diplomat, in charge of mediating between Morocco and the Polisario Front, 'Spain's support for his work to reach a mutually acceptable solution within the framework of the United Nations', without mentioning the latest step taken by his government. A position that corresponds to that of previous governments but which, a priori, does not fit with the approval of the Moroccan proposal put in black and white by Sánchez.

The Italian-Swedish diplomat says he took "good notes" during the conversation with Minister Albares, who was pending a meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels. Since taking up the post in November, De Mistura has enjoyed the backing of all actors involved in Western Sahara to resolve the conflict under the umbrella of the United Nations. The international body has made it known that Spain remains committed to Resolution 2602, approved in 2021.