Spain Offers UN Envoy Plane for Western Sahara Peace Mission

In a written response to the Vox party, which wanted to know the "concrete actions" planned to accompany De Mistura in his mission, the Spanish government indicated that in addition to "political support for the proper conduct of his mandate", the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, "has offered the logistical support of Spain, as it has done for its predecessors, by making an air force plane available to him to travel to the region," reports Europa Press.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs met with De Mistura in Rome on December 3 and reaffirmed Spain’s support for "relaunching the dialogue" between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the two parties to the conflict, and its availability to work closely with him to achieve "a mutually acceptable political solution" in the Sahara, based on the resolutions of the UN Security Council. A "constant" position that it recalled in its response to Vox on November 26.

De Mistura was appointed UN special envoy for the Sahara, two and a half years after the resignation of his predecessor, former German President Horst Koehler. More than a dozen candidates for this position had been rejected by Morocco and the Polisario Front, Antonio Guteres, the UN Secretary-General, had said.