France reverses course to back Moroccan autonomy plan for disputed Western Sahara

France has recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to back Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled.

In a letter to King Mohammed VI, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the autonomy plan that Morocco proposed in 2007 the “only basis” to solve the conflict, dealing a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has claimed to be the legitimate representive of the indigenous Saharawi people since the end of Spanish colonization.

“The present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday. “France intends to act consistently with this position at both national and international level.”