A new phase of diplomatic tensions is emerging at the UN as the Security Council prepares to vote, on October 30, a resolution extending by one year the mandate of MINURSO in the Sahara.
The draft resolution, authored by the United States, is the subject of disagreementparticularly with Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Security Council this year. The closed-door discussions reveal several major sticking points.
Algeria notably proposed two main amendments:
- Expanding MINURSO’s mandate to include human rights monitoring
- The replacement of the round table format with “direct negotiations” between Morocco and the Polisario
These proposals were rejected by the United Statesas “pen holder” of the resolutions, and certain permanent members such as France.
The text was examined by the group of “Friends of Western Sahara”including:
- France
- Russia
- Spain
- United States
- United Kingdom
Russia’s position is particularly expected this year. Traditionally favorable to Algerian initiatives and the referendum option, Moscow could adopt a different posture in the current context of cooling Russian-Algerian relations.
It is important to note that the adoption of MINURSO mandates has no longer been unanimous since April 28, 2017. Several countries abstained in previous votes:
- China
- Russia
- Bolivia (2017-2018)
- Ethiopia (2017-2018)
- South Africa (2019-2020)
- Tunisia (2020-2021)
- Kenya (2021-2022)
The text maintains the call to all parties (Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario) to resume the round table format initiated by the former Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, Horst Kohler, despite Algerian opposition.