Dominican Republic reaffirms its support for Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara
The Dominican Republic has reaffirmed its support for Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and the intention to open a consulate in the strategic enclave of Dakhla.
The Dominican President himself, Luis Abinader, conveyed to King Mohammed VI his country's full support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara and its intention to open a consulate in Dakhla during a meeting with Nasser Bourita, Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, according to the official Moroccan news agency MAP.
According to a statement published by the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and disseminated by the MAP agency, the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, instructed the Moroccan Minister Nasser Bourita, during the audience he granted him, to convey to King Mohammed VI ‘the firm support of the Dominican Republic for the Moroccan Sahara and the intention to evaluate as a priority in future expansion plans the opening of a consulate in the city of Dakhla’.
Abinader also reaffirmed that the Dominican Republic ‘considers the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the only solution to the Sahara dispute’, the statement said.
During this audience, which took place in the National Palace, on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the President of the Dominican Republic, on behalf of King Mohammed VI, Nasser Bourita conveyed to President Abinader the congratulations of the Alawite monarch and his wishes for success in his new mandate.
According to the official communiqué, Minister Nasser Bourita also conveyed King Mohammed VI's invitation to Luis Abinader to pay an official visit to Morocco, an occasion to establish a framework for deepening bilateral relations in various fields. President Abinader also affirmed his desire to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries in all fields, and his intention to visit the Moroccan kingdom.
The Dominican Republic thus reaffirms once again its position of support for Morocco's territorial integrity and its proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty.
As it did last year when the Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarez, sent a message to his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, in which the Dominican Republic showed its absolute recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. On that occasion, President Abinader stressed his desire to strengthen bilateral relations in all areas and his intention to visit Morocco.
The Dominican Republic is thus part of a long list of more than 100 countries that already support Morocco's proposal for Western Sahara, which is based on a broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting UN resolutions, which seeks to give the Saharawis a large measure of self-government, leaving foreign and defence policy in the hands of the Moroccan state, and to develop the territory in all areas.
Important nations such as the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany and Spain already consider Morocco's proposal to be the most serious, credible and realistic way of resolving the Saharawi dispute. The Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, which advocates holding a referendum on independence for the Sahrawi people, has considerably less support on the international stage.