- This firm US message further isolates the Polisario Front and Algeria, especially since Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara continues to gain backing from key global actors like France and the UK.
Rabat – US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos met today in New York with the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, where he reiterated Washington’s firm stance that autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only practical solution to the conflict.
“I reiterated the clear U.S. position, that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution for Western Sahara,” Boulos said on X.
Boulos and Mistura also discussed MINURSO’s stabilizing role and how to bring regional peace, with the US expressing appreciation for continued coordination ahead of the upcoming UN Security Council debate.
Algerian political analyst Oualid Kebir described Boulos’s statement as a “new American slap to the (Algerian) regime.”
This firm US message further isolates the Polisario Front and Algeria, especially since Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara continues to gain backing from key global actors like France and the UK.
US President Donald Trump has recently reaffirmed Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty and emphasized that Morocco’s autonomy plan is the only “serious, credible, and realistic” solution.
The United Kingdom, once neutral, shifted its stance in June 2025. Foreign Secretary David Lammy described Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan as the “most credible, viable and pragmatic” basis for resolving the conflict, with London now fully supporting UN-led efforts toward a negotiated solution.
France has also moved from caution to full endorsement after President Emmanuel Macron declared that Western Sahara’s present and future lie under Moroccan sovereignty, stressing that the autonomy plan is the only fair and lasting path forward.
Spain had already taken this step in March 2022, when it officially endorsed Morocco’s autonomy proposal, calling it the “most serious, realistic and credible” framework to resolve the dispute, with Spanish officials repeatedly reiterating this stance.
Portugal followed in July 2025, backing Morocco’s plan as a “serious and credible basis” for settlement.
Support has also come from African states such as Kenya and Ghana, which both described Morocco’s autonomy plan as the only realistic and sustainable solution
This wave of endorsements leaves the Polisario Front with fewer allies on the global stage. Its main backer, Algeria, continues to boycott UN-led roundtables and insists on an independence referendum, a stance that has left it increasingly isolated as international momentum tilts toward Morocco’s position.
BY: The Times Union
