With its adoption in New York, UN Security Council Resolution 2797 on the Moroccan Sahara closed a long chapter of diplomatic ambiguities and ushered in a new era: that of a geopolitics of responsibility. The text endorses the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 as the only serious and credible basis for achieving a lasting political solution. This shift, both legal and symbolic, does not only concern the Maghreb. It directly involves the European Union, which finds itself at a crossroads between its principles and its strategic interests, notes the Montpellier-based think tank, the International Institute for Geopolitical Studies (IIEG), in an insightful note on the subject.
For nearly half a century, the Western Sahara issue has been trapped in rhetoric inherited from the postcolonial era, the text states. The new resolution breaks with this pattern. It explicitly recognizes the primacy of political realism over ideological posturing, while also designating Algeria, for the first time, as a stakeholder in the process. By placing the autonomy plan at the heart of the settlement, the international community acknowledges the shift from a frozen conflict to a logic of integrated territorial governance, based on stability and development.
This reassessment of the situation directly challenges Brussels. The European Union, a key partner of Morocco, can no longer hide behind a cautious legal neutrality. The Montpellier-based think tank believes that Europe faces a major strategic responsibility: to align itself with UN legitimacy and the international dynamic driven by the United States, the Gulf States, and the majority of the African continent. For the researchers at IIEG, refusing this alignment would amount to maintaining an ambiguity incompatible with the principles of coherence and comprehensive partnership that the Union claims to uphold in its external action.
A question of consistency and credibility
Since the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in 2023, which temporarily suspended agricultural and fisheries agreements with Morocco, Brussels has been walking a fine line. This legal caution, justified at the time by procedural considerations, sits uneasily with the new diplomatic landscape. By persisting in a wait-and-see approach, the Union risks undermining its own credibility on the international stage. Resolution 2797 does more than simply extend a UN mandate; it establishes a clear doctrine: that of realism and shared responsibility.
For Europe, the stakes go beyond the simple issue of the Sahara. They concern the coherence of its foreign policy and its ability to influence the geopolitical realignment of its southern flank. Morocco, through its stability, its security role, and its development vision, has established itself as an indispensable partner in the fight against terrorism, migration management, maritime security, and the energy transition. Ignoring this reality would mean depriving itself of a key partner for the stability of the Mediterranean and the Sahel.
Aligning with the new UN architecture would, on the contrary, offer the EU a considerable political and economic opportunity. By recognizing the legitimacy of the autonomy plan, Brussels could consolidate an exemplary partnership with Morocco and support the development of the Sahara within the framework of major infrastructure projects: the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, green hydrogen corridors, and the Atlantic port of Dakhla, destined to become an Afro-European trade hub. This dynamic would align with the priorities of the European Green Deal and strengthen the continent's energy security, the think tank emphasizes.
From the status quo to political courage
The question of the Moroccan Sahara has long crystallized the contradictions of a European diplomacy torn between legal prudence and strategic ambition. Resolution 2797 serves as a reminder that the time for the status quo is over. The IIEG speaks of a geopolitics of courage: that of a Europe that chooses to assume its share of responsibility in building a lasting peace.
In an opinion piece published for the fiftieth anniversary of the Green March, the institute's president, Khaled Hamadé, expressed a similar sentiment. Courage is not about perpetuating conflicts, but about daring to resolve them. Morocco has shown the way. It is time for the world to join it on this path, he wrote. A call to action for Brussels. The Sahara is no longer just an African issue. It is now a Euro-Atlantic challenge, at the crossroads of regional stability, energy security, and cohesion between the two shores.
Refusing to adapt to this reality would amount to freezing Europe in the role of a powerless observer of a world order that is being reshaped without it. On the contrary, by supporting the spirit of Resolution 2797, the European Union could assert a coherent diplomacy, faithful to its principles of multilateralism and oriented towards the future. This is less a technical choice than an act of vision, that of acknowledging that peace and stability are built on recognizing what is possible, not on nostalgia for the past, the text continues.
Morocco, through its steadfastness and commitment, offers the international community an honorable way out of a dispute inherited from the 20th century. Now, it is up to Europe to decide whether it wants to be a partner in a new world order or a silent witness to its own marginalization.
