Morocco’s King Mohamed VI said on Saturday that his country’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara was “not negotiable.”
“Today as in the past, Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara will never be up for negotiation,” he said in a televised speech.
But he added: “If we engage in negotiations, it is essential in order to reach a peaceful solution to this artificial regional conflict.”
The Moroccan monarch’s remarks came in a speech on Saturday marking the 46th anniversary of the Green March, a mass demonstration in November 1975 that forced Spain to hand over the disputed province of Sahara to Morocco.
In his speech, King Mohamed ignored recent positions by Algeria against his country.
He reiterated that Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara was “a fixed and unquestionable fact, by virtue of history and legitimacy, and with the strong will of its people, and broad international recognition.”
The monarch also stated that he had noted “in recent months… calm and tangible developments in the defense of our desert.”
He renewed his commitment to peaceful solutions, to a ceasefire, and to continuous coordination and cooperation with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), within the scope of its specific competencies.
He also renewed his support to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and to his personal envoy for their “efforts to re-launch the political process as soon as possible.”
