Algeria has protested the visit of French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati to the Western Sahara region, which lies at the heart of the ongoing tensions between Algeria and Morocco, tensions that have escalated dangerously in recent months. Dati visited the city of Laayoune in Moroccan Sahara, marking the first visit by a French government official to the disputed region, confirming Paris’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the area. Dati told AFP: “This is a historic visit because it is the first time a French minister has visited the southern provinces,” adding that it “confirms that the present and future of this region fall under Moroccan sovereignty, as the President of the Republic has previously stated.” French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Morocco, promised that France would actively engage “diplomatically” at the United Nations and the European Union to support Morocco’s proposal. Dati, accompanied by her Moroccan counterpart, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, visited the King Mohammed VI Public Library in central Laayoune to “launch a project” for a French cultural mission there. She also visited the city of Dakhla to inaugurate a film institute, according to the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, which stated that this visit “reaffirms France’s support, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, for the Moroccan identity of the Sahara.”
In response to this visit, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release that “the visit of a member of the French government to the Sahara… is particularly dangerous and is condemnable from multiple perspectives,” without naming the French minister. The statement emphasized that Dati’s trip to the Sahara “reflects a clear disregard for international law by a permanent member of the Security Council,” stressing that the visit “contributes to reinforcing the status quo imposed by Morocco in the Sahara… a territory where the decolonization process remains incomplete, and the right to self-determination remains unfulfilled.” The statement added that the visit by the French government official, which is “unwelcome, reflects a distasteful image of a former colonial power aligning with a new colonial power. In doing so, the French government is increasingly isolating itself and abandoning its support for the work of the United Nations to accelerate a resolution to the Sahara conflict… based on strict respect for international law.”
Meanwhile, Moroccan authorities decided to deny entry to four members of the European Parliament and two of their companions after they attempted to enter the city of Laayoune in Western Sahara “illegally.” Local sources reported that authorities in Laayoune refused to allow these parliamentarians, “known for their support of the separatist Polisario Front, to enter upon their arrival at Hassan I Airport in the city, coming from Las Palmas” in Spain. According to the Moroccan website Hespress, “this behavior violates the laws regulating the entry of foreigners into Moroccan territory, prompting local authorities to intervene and deny them entry, reaffirming that national sovereignty remains a red line that cannot be crossed under any circumstances.” The same source indicated that the group included European Parliament members Anna Katri Lintström and José Interro Saramo from Finland’s Left Alliance party, Isabel Serra Sánchez from Spain’s Podemos party, and Catarina Martins from Portugal’s Left Bloc, along with Pablo Casado Martínez, an assistant to the vice-president of the Left Group in the European Parliament, and a communications officer.
The return of US President Donald Trump to the White House had sparked widespread interest in the Maghreb region, particularly regarding the future of Western Sahara. At the end of his first term, Trump issued a decision recognizing Washington’s acknowledgment of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory. Experts noted that the US president had supported Morocco since his first term and might increase his backing for Moroccan claims in Western Sahara during his second term. However, Trump is also “a dealmaker,” as Lovat pointed out. The US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara came in exchange for the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel under the “Abraham Accords” in the final weeks of Trump’s first presidential term in 2020.
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, spans 266,000 square kilometers and boasts rich fishing resources and significant phosphate reserves. The United Nations classifies it as a “non-self-governing territory,” and it has been the center of a decades-long conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is backed by Algeria. Morocco controls about 80% of the territory and proposes granting it autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front demands a referendum for self-determination under UN supervision, a conflict that has persisted since 1975. Morocco’s acquisition of US support marked a turning point in the issue, strengthening Rabat’s position in negotiations with European countries and leading to a significant shift in Spain’s stance.
