- The monarch also expressed pride over the growing international support for Morocco’s momentum on the Sahara dispute.
Rabat – King Mohammed VI has once again renewed his stance that Morocco’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding its sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara should not be interpreted as enmity toward Algeria.
On the contrary, the monarch suggested, Morocco has historically been — and remains — profoundly attached to nurturing the deep historical ties and enduring human connections Moroccan people share with the Algerian people.
Despite the Algerian regime’s maneuvers challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces, he recalled, Morocco has always been open to dialogue and reconciliation with Algiers.
King Mohammed VI made it clear on his Throne Day speech tonight that Morocco’s position is clear and consistent with regards to the Algerian people, with whom the kingdom shares deep-rooted human and historical ties as well as other bonds like language, religion, and a shared identity.
The monarch also renewed his initiative of extending an olive branch to Algeria to express Morocco’s readiness for a frank and responsible dialogue to end the political stalemates and all outstanding issues between the two neighbors.
“My firm commitment to reaching out to our brothers in Algeria stems from a belief in the unity of our peoples and in our ability to overcome, together, this unfortunate situation,” the monarch said.
King Mohammed VI also responded to Algeria’s recently reported attempts to form or re-establish a Maghreb Union without Morocco, stressing his belief that he is convinced that such a regional union cannot exist without equal involvement from Morocco and Algeria.
The monarch further spoke of several other steps that he himself and the Moroccan government have taken to de-escalate tensions with Algeria and commitment to a spirit of peace and shared prosperity.
In his 2021 Throne Day speech, the King echoed a similar sentiment, stressing Morocco’s readiness to sincerely work with Algeria “without conditions” to restore positive bilateral ties.
“I am not satisfied with the current state of our relations, for it does not serve our people’s interests, nor is it acceptable to a great many countries,” he said on that occasion.
He also made a similar appeal in 2022, when he extended an invitation to Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to visit Morocco for dialogue on lingering disputes between Rabat and Algiers.
The monarch re-extended the olive branch to Algeria on different other occasions, including in his 2023 Throne Day speech.
In that speech, he described ties with Algeria as “stable” and friendly despite Algiers’ determination to undermine Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces.
“We look forward to seeing them improve, adding that Algeria will see no ‘evil’ or ‘harm’ from Morocco.
Beyond its support for Polisario’s separatism claims and outdated narratives challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity, Algeria’s regime also cut bilateral ties with Rabat in 2021, blaming the kingdom for the wildfires that had ravaged several Algerian provinces during the summer of that year.
Morocco has long denounced the unilateral decision to cut ties, describing Algeria’s allegations as unfounded and as fallacies.
Sahara momentum
The monarch also expressed satisfaction with Morocco’s momentum in the Sahara dossier amid the growing international support Morocco’s Autonomy Initiative has garnered, as many gradually embrace it as the only viable solution to the dispute.
He also offered his gratitude to countries that have joined the growing cohort of voices supporting the Moroccan proposal for the Sahara, especially the UK and Portugal, which were the latest to describe the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as a credible and serious initiative to end the decades-long conflict over Western Sahara.
In June, the UK broke free from its previous traditional position of merely supporting the UN-led political process to explicitly and publicly express support for Morocco’s autonomy plan initiative.
As for Portugal, it recently doubled down on its support for Morocco, now seeing the Moroccan autonomy initiative as the most serious and credible framework to end the Sahara dispute.
“As proud as I am of these stances, which uphold right and legitimacy, I keenly look forward, as well, to finding a consensual solution – a solution with neither winner nor loser; a face-saving solution for all parties,” the King said.
Over 113 countries favor the autonomy plan as a viable political solution to the dispute, with the US and France fully recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces.
BY: The Times Union
