UN Security Council Resolution 2797 does not just represent an evolution, but consecrates the centrality, legitimacy and relevance of the autonomy plan as a definitive solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, said Morocco’s ambassador to Washington, Youssef Amrani, on Monday.
Speaking on a podcast broadcast by the influential American think tank Hudson Institute, the ambassador discussed the dynamics behind this historic resolution, which provides unequivocal clarity and irrevocably guides the international community's support for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. During the podcast, moderated by Michael Doran, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, Amrani emphasized that the unanimous vote in favor of Resolution 2797 constitutes a rare political signal in the current diplomatic climate, revealing a profound shift within the international community towards structural, explicit, and explicit support for the autonomy plan. He asserted that more than 120 countries worldwide recognize the autonomy plan as the only way to advance the political process. And for good reason: the autonomy plan presented by Morocco in 2007 meets all the requirements of international law and, as such, constitutes a path that aligns perfectly with the prerequisites of the UN Charter and the parameters of successive Security Council resolutions, explained the Moroccan diplomat, adding that it is not only in accordance with international law, but also now offers the only framework defined by the Security Council as the basis for negotiations, which will be facilitated by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General. This prospect, he affirmed, invalidates all diplomatic utopianisms based on outdated principles or projections that have dismissed the only viable option.
Amrani also noted that this is a fundamental development that results directly from the strategic vision of King Mohammed VI, a vision based on clarity, consistency and the search for realistic solutions, allowing us to move beyond posturing towards the definitive settlement of the dispute.
Following this exchange, the ambassador placed this UN dynamic within the broader trajectory of a Morocco in transformation, engaged for more than two decades in a continuous movement of modernization, recalling that this profound evolution, driven by the royal vision, has resulted in a strengthening of institutional stability, an economic rise and an increased capacity to propose solutions where others are content to observe or react.
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Asked about the Kingdom's African projection, Amrani highlighted the unifying scope of the Royal Atlantic Initiative as a vector of integration, but above all as a belt of development, in that it links the opportunities and challenges of the African continent around collegial efforts pooling the potentials, ambitions, commitments and expertise of all.
He noted in this regard that the royal vision aims to transform Africa’s Atlantic coast into a space of connectivity, mobility, and prosperity, emphasizing that the Kingdom is currently creating the African corridors of the 21st century by converging aspirations and prosperity around structuring projects. Citing the Africa-Atlantic gas pipeline, integrated industrial zones, and the Dakhla Atlantic port, he explained that this vision is part of a logic of co-development and positive interdependence, where the Moroccan Sahara becomes a growth hub, a crossroads between continents, and a lever for regional integration. Connectivity is the new grammar of African progress, and Morocco is today one of its most active and credible architects, he said.
Speaking about the strategic relationship between Rabat and Washington, Amrani recalled that it stems from the 250-year-old historical friendship between the two countries, noting that the profound convergence that exists today around the priorities of security, stability, and development makes our partnership both a necessity and a decisive tool for the prosperity of both sides of the Atlantic. We have built with the United States an unparalleled relationship of trust that extends far beyond the diplomatic sphere. We act together, coordinate our actions, and project our visions, which are often convergent, he concluded.
