Media: Madrid to Host US-Mediated Talks on Western Sahara

Talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front, mediated by the United States and focused on the autonomy of Western Sahara, are scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain, on February 8. Representatives from Algeria and Mauritania will also attend the meeting. This was reported by the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, citing diplomatic sources.

According to the newspaper's sources, the negotiations will take place at the US Embassy. In addition to Washington, the meeting's organizers include Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Western Sahara. The foreign ministers of Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania are expected to discuss in detail a 40-page document presented by the Kingdom of Morocco, outlining a comprehensive solution to the Western Sahara crisis.

According to El Confidencial's sources, Massad Boulos, Senior Advisor for Africa to US President Donald Trump, hopes that one agenda item for the meeting will be a discussion on a UN resolution regarding Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

The sources added that this is already the second meeting on Western Sahara settlement organized by the US. The first session was held in late January in the state of Florida under conditions of complete secrecy.

In January, Sweden's Foreign Minister supported Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara and emphasized the need to resolve the regional crisis in accordance with UN resolutions and the organization's Charter.

Background: Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony on the west coast of Africa, gaining independence in 1975. Since 1976, it has been the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Under the leadership of the Polisario Front and with the support of Algeria, the SADR waged a long war against Morocco and Mauritania, both of which laid claim to its territory.

Mauritania withdrew from the conflict in 1979. In 1991, Morocco and the Polisario Front signed a ceasefire agreement with the condition of holding a referendum on Western Sahara's independence, mediated by the UN. Later that year, the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was established to enable the people of Western Sahara to make a free choice between integration with Morocco and independence. However, the referendum has not yet taken place.

In the summer of 2024, France recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the territories of Western Sahara, which led to a deterioration in relations between Paris and Algeria.