French Parliament Stirs Controversy with New Map Showing Disputed Western Sahara

"The map behind you has been changed. A month ago, it was not this map that was here, it was the map in accordance with the UN, in accordance with international law, and the map that has been put there is the map in accordance with the desire of the President of the Republic. This is the image of parliamentary diplomacy, the image of our commission that is behind you, I think we should not accept that." These are the words with which the deputy Jean-Paul Lecoq (Democratic and Republican Left) addressed the vice-president of the commission Alain David (Socialists and related) who was overseeing the session on March 26.

At the origin of the annoyance of the communist MP, the disappearance of the new world map displayed in the room of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the dotted line that until now separated Western Sahara from Morocco, reports radiofrance.

France has long hesitated to support the Moroccan initiative, which has received the approval of several countries such as Spain, the United States, Israel and Germany. But last year, it finally took the step after three years of rift with Morocco. In July 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a message addressed to King Mohammed VI commemorating the 25th anniversary of his accession to the throne, recognized the Moroccanness of the Sahara. France "intends to act in coherence with this position at the national level and at the international level," assured the French head of state. "For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework in which this issue must be resolved. Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant," insisted the French president, adding that this plan "is now the only basis for reaching a just, lasting and negotiated political solution, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council."

On the sidelines of a state visit to Morocco, the French president, in a speech before the two Houses of the Moroccan Parliament on October 29, renewed his strong support for the kingdom’s sovereignty over its Sahara. "I reaffirm that here before you. For France, the present and the future of this region are part of Moroccan sovereignty. Autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework in which this issue must be resolved," he declared. A day earlier, the official website of the Quai d’Orsay had posted the complete map of Morocco. For now, this new map does not yet have the unanimous support of all French political actors.