LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM) (ITALPRESS) – The British government on Monday reiterated its support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as a means to resolve the regional dispute over Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara.
The position was reaffirmed by Baroness Chapman of Darlington, the UK Minister for Development, during a debate in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the British Parliament.
“We believe that this (the Autonomy Plan) is the right pragmatic solution, given the duration of the conflict and the current situation. I think it was the correct decision to take,” Baroness Chapman said, emphasising that the United Kingdom remains “extremely close to our Moroccan friends and hopes this step will bring peace and stability to the entire region.”
The minister added that by supporting the Autonomy Plan, the British government had acted “with pragmatism.” “The United Kingdom is acting pragmatically, as I have said, but also in line with our commitments to Morocco and, above all, with full transparency,” she explained.
Last June, the United Kingdom formalised its support for the Autonomy Plan in a joint statement issued following a visit to Morocco by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy, underlining that the Autonomy Plan represents “the most credible, realistic, and pragmatic basis” for reaching a definitive solution to the regional dispute over Moroccan sovereignty in the Sahara.
It is worth recalling that on October 30, the United Nations Security Council is set to adopt a new resolution reaffirming the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, first presented in 2007, as the only basis for a lasting settlement of the dispute.
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(ITALPRESS).
