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The meeting took place on Monday, April 14, 2025 Monday. A certain expectation was noticeable in opinion after the recent American declarations on the issue of the Sahara.
This Monday therefore, at 10:00 am new York time, the 15 members of the council listened to two briefings: one of the special envoy and chief of Minurso; the other of the personal envoy of the secretary general staff of Mistura.
The meeting took place as the previous ones. It did not give rise to a decision or a press release and took place behind closed doors without being relayed by the UN webtv.
As Omar Hilale pointed out, permanent representative of Morocco at the UN, in an intervention live Monday evening on Medi1 TV, it was “an ordinary meeting of consultations behind closed doors”.
From this meeting of the Security Council, AFP reports in a few words: the Envoy Staffan de Mistura said that the next three months would be an opportunity to “produce a regional de -escalation and, separately, a revitalized roadmap towards the resolution of the conflict of Western Sahara”. The rest of the dispatch is a reminder of the international context of the moment.
In fact, and as Omar Hilale points out, this context is important to understand what is going on. And this context is in one sentence: The recent American declarations on the Moroccanity of the Sahara and the pre -eminence of the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty.
At the end of the interviews of Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, with Nasser Bourita, on April 8 in Washington, the State Department had published a press release which included a key sentence: “The Secretary of State reaffirmed the call of President Trump to what the parties undertake without delay in discussionsusing the Moroccan autonomy proposal as unique frameworkin order to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution. The secretary said that the United States would facilitate advances towards this objective“.
The rest of the American press release is a reaffirmation of the Moroccanity of the Sahara and the fact that the plan of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only way out.
The United States has therefore indicated a direction. Have they weighed directly on the personal envoy? Probably since the latter had the opportunity to chat with Lisa Kenna, US US under-secretary, on April 10.
Marco Rubio’s right arm had two messages to transmit to the UN diplomat: inform him of the renewal of the position of the Trump administration about the Sahara. “UNot true autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only possible solution, “said the American official on his X account.
As for the second message, no less clear, Lisa Kenna told De Mistura that “the parties must sit at the negotiation table to achieve a mutually acceptable result”.
This is certainly why in his briefing, of Mistura seemed for the first time in a hurry to act. And this time, did not mention neither referendum nor partition. Only the resumption of discussions and the autonomy plan.
For him, the American statements after the Bourita visit are important. But he only retains what he wants: it takes a “real autonomy”, he insists. And the solution must be “mutually acceptable,” he wrote, recalling the American press release. However, it is the UN which has long repeated that the solution must be political and mutually acceptable.
The new American position was therefore omnipresent in the Briefing of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations.
De Mistura also insists on the French positionwith regard to “the second permanent member of the Security Council”. “The diplomatic engagement of two permanent members of the Council in the region testifies to renewed attention to opportunities, but also to existing risks. In reality, we have not found any improvement in Algerian-Moroccan relations, on the contrary. Such an improvement would be essential to avoid the risks of regional conflict, taking into account constant tensions, the absence of diplomatic contacts, the closure of borders and the recent and substantial increase in acquisitions advanced military equipment and related expenses “. Here, the personal envoy explicitly designates the two protagonists.
De Mistura therefore considers that the solution must be political and mutually acceptable, that autonomy must be credible and notes that the United States intends to engage directly to achieve a solution. He specifies that “real negotiations are necessary Between the parties concerned To achieve a solution “. In the form of round tables? He says nothing about this.
After a long digression in which he only talks about the Tindouf camps and those he calls refugees as well as the feelings that this situation inspires him, he concludes that “2025 will mark this year the fiftieth anniversary of the registration of the question of Western Sahara on the agenda of the United Nations. The next three months will, in my opinion, be an opportunity to verify how a new momentumbased on a renewed and active commitment of certain members of this council, including permanent members, can lead to a regional de -escalation and, separately, to a revitalized roadmap towards the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. In this case, we can provide effective support, and the October 2025 session could become a very important event for this advice. My determination, approved by the secretary general, to facilitate such an outcome, remains intact “.
Ultimately, and despite its “normal” form, the meeting of the Security Council is perhaps an event. We have seen a briefing strongly imbued with the weight of American engagement and its position. We will see if the three months will be conducive to exchanges as part of the Moroccan autonomy initiative. As for the personal envoy, He has clearly changed posture But did not hesitate to play on the emotional rope by evoking the population of Tindouf, never identified or identified, and by devoting them a significant part of its words. New posture, imposed by the new international context; But has the background changed?
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