The Pakistani ambassador to Morocco has sought to clarify his country’s position during the recent vote at the UN Security Council. Islamabad’s abstention, far from being a disavowal, should be interpreted as indirect support for the Moroccan position on the Sahara.
The recent resolution of the UN Security Council, which enshrines the Moroccan autonomy plan as the basis for the settlement of the Western Sahara conflict, is perceived as a major diplomatic victory for Rabat. It is also part of a broader American initiative aimed at reconciliation between Morocco and Algeria.
Following the adoption last Friday by the UN Security Council of a resolution on the Sahara validating the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Western Sahara, said on Wednesday that "it is now that the real work begins to reach a mutually acceptable solution to a 50-year-old conflict".
The UN Security Council voted on Friday, October 31, a resolution on the Sahara validating the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007. Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a specialist on the Maghreb and a member of the editorial board of the magazine Orient XXI, analyzes the impacts of this decision for Morocco, the Polisario Front and its ally, Algeria, which did not participate in the vote.
Christophe Lecourtier, the French ambassador to Morocco, described as "historic" the UN Security Council resolution dated October 31, 2025, validating the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara as the sole basis for resolving the conflict.
The recent support of the UN Security Council for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara is seen as a major catalyst for Rabat’s economic ambitions. This diplomatic progress consolidates an investment strategy of several billion euros aimed at transforming the region into a logistics platform oriented towards sub-Saharan Africa.
Morocco announced on Tuesday, November 4 the creation of a new national holiday set for October 31. This decision, which is accompanied by a reorganization of the schedule of royal speeches, is presented as a consequence of the "historic turning point" in the Sahara issue .
Massad Boulos, advisor for Africa and the Middle East to President Donald Trump, assured that "there are no secret negotiations" between Morocco and Algeria, contradicting the statements of Steve Wittkof, another advisor to the US president, who recently announced a "peace agreement" between the two countries within 60 days.
Nasser Bourita, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that Morocco’s diplomatic victory on the Sahara issue was achieved thanks to the leadership of King Mohammed VI who conducted "several direct contacts" before the vote on the Security Council resolution, which allowed "to tip the balance in favor of Morocco".
In April 2007, Morocco had submitted to the United Nations an initiative for the negotiation of an autonomy status for the Sahara region , presented as a "realistic compromise" to break the political deadlock. The official document details the democratic principles, the guaranteed rights and the constitutional framework that would govern the future autonomous region.
The resolution of the UN Security Council approving the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara as the sole basis for resolving the conflict could motivate Morocco to persist in its claims concerning Ceuta, Melilla, the Spanish islands and rocks. This is at least what a certain Spanish press fears.
At the initiative of the United States, the Security Council resolution presents the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the most realistic and credible option for reaching a political solution to the conflict that has opposed Rabat to the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, for several decades.