US Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

The United States will not backtrack. They maintain their position on the Sahara issue. While Algiers hopes that the United States will reverse its decision, "President Biden has not changed the proclamation [of his predecessor Donald Trump on the Sahara], because it is a historical fact," said Elizabeth Moore Aubin, US Ambassador to Algeria in an interview with the Algerian anti-Moroccan website La Patrie News. Since 2008, the United States has supported the Moroccan autonomy plan, she recalled, believing that this plan remains a viable solution. Also, she stressed that the Biden administration "continues to consider Morocco’s autonomy plan as serious, credible and realistic, carrying an approach that can satisfy the aspirations of the people of the Sahara."

Elizabeth Moore Aubin will specify: "We have not at all changed our perspective on this in almost two decades, this is what we have said. However, ultimately, this must be a solution under the auspices of the United Nations." However, the complexity of the resumption of the political process at the United Nations level despite the appointment of Staffan de Mistura as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy does not escape the US Ambassador to Algeria. De Mistura is struggling to relaunch the round table process, an initiative launched by his predecessor, Horst Köhler since 2018.