Jordania refuerza su apoyo a Marruecos en torno a la cuestión del Sáhara Occidental

Jordan is another country that has recently shown its full support for Morocco on the Western Sahara issue. The Jordanian kingdom has expressed its full support for the autonomy formula for the Sahrawi territory under Moroccan sovereignty and this has been demonstrated by the opening of its Consulate General on Thursday in El Ayoun.

Jordan's own Foreign Minister, Ayman al-Safadi, pointed out that “we were and will always continue to support Morocco’s territorial integrity,”  on the Western Sahara issue. As he expressed at the opening event of the Jordanian Consulate.  

Today's inauguration "confirms the firm position of Jordan that was and will always remain on the side of the Kingdom of Morocco" concerning the issue of its territorial integrity, Al-Safadi stated at a joint press briefing with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans abroad, Nasser Bourita. This position is in complete contrast to that defended by the Polisario Front, which advocates holding a referendum on independence, a position that hardly anyone in the international arena supports, except for a few countries such as Algeria, one of the international actors at loggerheads with Morocco in North Africa.

This initiative proves that "we are working with our brothers to resolve the issue of Moroccan Sahara, in line with the resolutions of international legality and the autonomy initiative submitted by Morocco," he noted, describing this proposal as a "practical and logical" solution to settle this artificial conflict.

The inauguration on Thursday of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Jordan in Laayoune demonstrates the solid relationship between Rabat and Amman, an example of good relations and cooperation between Arab countries. A consolidated bond that is also represented by the good harmony between their two kings, Morocco's Mohammed VI and Jordan's Abdullah II, who share the same vision on Arab, regional and international issues.  

Following the intervention of the Moroccan Armed Forces in El Guerguerat in November 2020 in the face of unrest at this border crossing that connects Western Sahara with Mauritania, the Jordanian monarch welcomed the decisions of King Mohammed VI to restore and secure the movement of people and goods in this area. 

He also congratulated the Alawite sovereign on the success of this operation, which allowed the reopening of the passage to trade between the Kingdom of Morocco and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Precisely on the occasion of this action, King Abdullah II expressed to Mohamed VI his intention to open the Jordanian Consulate General in El Ayoun.  

In this way, Jordan is following in the footsteps of other countries that have decided to open diplomatic delegations in important centres in Laayoune or Dakhla. Such was the case of nations such as the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Thus, Jordan became on Thursday the eleventh country to open a consulate in El Ayoun, after Emirates, Bahrain, Ivory Coast, Comoros, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Central African Republic, Burundi, Eswatini and Zambia. 

Al-Safadi also welcomed the "historically strong, strategic and distinguished" relations between the two brotherly kingdoms, which are reflected in the "continuous cooperation and uninterrupted coordination" between Moroccan and Jordanian officials at all levels, as reported by the Moroccan media Quid.  

"These historic ties are a model in Arab relations" in the service of common interests to "help achieve the development of our peoples and meet all the common challenges we face," in conformity with the High Directives of the Heads of State of the two countries, His Majesty King Mohammed VI and his brother HM King Abdullah II, he added.

The Jordanian minister noted that his talks with Bourita were an opportunity to discuss the steps to be taken to raise the solid relations between the two countries to the level of a "fruitful" cooperation which will serve the interests of the two kingdoms and those of the Arab nation in general, stressing the importance of strengthening cooperation in the fields of economy, investment and tourism.

All this comes in the wake of recent diplomatic developments whereby Donald Trump's US administration recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara and the North African country established relations with Israel, as part of the strategy pursued by the former US president to normalise relations between the Israeli state and various Arab nations in an attempt to work towards the pacification of the Middle East.  

The first major step was taken through the Abraham Accords, whereby the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established diplomatic ties with Israel, something that only Egypt and Jordan had done in the past within the Arab sphere. Subsequently, Sudan would join the initiative to establish relations with the Jewish country. All of this was aimed at resolving the conflict in the Middle East region, rooted for decades and with unresolved problems such as the Palestinian question.  

After these movements, important support came for Morocco recognizing the formula of autonomy of Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the only possible way to solve the Saharawi conflict. This was represented by the opening of Consulates by countries such as the Emirates or the United States in cities such as Dakhla or Laayoune. In January an international virtual conference was even held, organized by Morocco and the USA, in which dozens of countries endorsed their support to the Alaouite kingdom on the question of Western Sahara, an issue on which the position of the Polisario Front regarding a referendum of independence is practically ruled out without any support at the international level.