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FILE - A Polisario Front soldier salutes during a military parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Polisario Front in the Aoussered camp, Algeria, Saturday, May 20, 2023. France has recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-held position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to back Morocco while a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Guidoum Fateh, File)

France shifts Western Sahara stance, seeking closer ties with Morocco

France has backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled

By SAM METZ
Published - Jul 30, 2024, 05:44 PM ET
Last Updated - Jul 30, 2024, 05:44 PM EDT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — France has thrown its support behind Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled.

In a letter to King Mohammed VI, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the plan that Morocco proposed in 2007 to offer the region limited autonomy under its sovereignty the “only basis” to solve the conflict. The shift deals a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has for decades claimed to be the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people.

“The present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday. “France intends to act consistently with this position at both national and international level.”

Macron's move is unlikely to change the key tenets of the territorial dispute but could deepen France ties with Morocco, which has long blamed it for drawing the colonial borders it sees as the root of the conflict. France signaled earlier this year that it was open to investing in Moroccan projects in the disputed territory.

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