France Shifts Stance on Western Sahara: Expert Urges Morocco to Secure Legal Recognition

After the change in France’s position, the French President has put the ball in Morocco’s court, which must conclude the necessary agreements including an explicit recognition of its Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara during the planned visit of Emmanuel Macron, said Ahmed Noureddine to Al3omk. According to him, these agreements could lead to a tangible legal impact, as was the case when former US President Donald Trump signed the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. The American recognition has, he recalled, been recorded in the US Federal Register, equivalent to the official journal in Morocco. The expert in international relations therefore expects that the agreements to be signed by France on legal and historical bases will be published in the French official journal to ensure their impact at the domestic level.

As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, France should present a historical note including the history of the Moroccan Sahara, especially since it was the former colonizer, and that it cut off territories that it then attributed to Algeria, he added, stressing the need to provide evidence from the French archives on the history of the Sahara and the composition of its tribes, while confirming the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara. This note must be addressed to the Security Council and diplomatic representations in France and with other international organizations, such as the European Union and the European Parliament, to ensure a legal impact of the French recognition, the expert believes. He also calls on Spain to take similar measures, either by informing the Security Council or by signing agreements recognizing the Moroccanness of the Sahara and publishing them in the official journal.

For Ahmed Noureddine, France must now adopt the complete map of Morocco, including its Sahara. He expects that the French media, particularly the France 24 channel under the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will replace the old maps of Morocco with the maps of the kingdom with the Sahara. The expert also called for a review of French school textbooks regarding the maps of Morocco.