The mandate of the UN mission in Western Sahara is set to expire on Saturday after Russia vetoed a US-drafted resolution to extend it in the Security Council. A Russian draft resolution on the same issue also failed to garner enough votes.
The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was established in 1991 and, until June of this year, comprised 359 personnel, both civilian and military, according to its website.
A decades-long conflict has raged between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is backed by Algeria and seeks an independent state in Western Sahara.
The United States had proposed a resolution to extend the mission's mandate for one year, which received the support of 11 of the 15 members of the Security Council. This text would have established Morocco's autonomy plan as the basis for negotiations to resolve the conflict.
The text also included changing the mission's name to "United Nations Mission in Western Sahara (MINUSSO)," while removing any reference to holding a referendum on the territory's self-determination.
However, Russia vetoed the US draft resolution, criticizing what it called a "unilateral approach" and proposing instead an extension of the mission's mandate under the same previous terms.
The second Russian draft resolution, which would have extended the UN mission's mandate in Western Sahara for one year, received three votes in favor, while the United States opposed it and 11 members abstained.
US Ambassador Mike Waltz said, "Some members of this Council used their veto power to preserve the 'R' symbol," which stands for referendum.
The French representative to the Security Council, Jérôme Bonnafont, also condemned Russia's "obstruction" of the draft resolution.
For her part, British Ambassador Sarah Mackintosh urged "those who did not support the US draft resolution to seek a solution based on it."
The Moroccan Royal Court welcomed on Friday the decision not to extend the MINURSO mission, considering it "a significant development and a major step towards the final resolution of the Western Sahara issue within the United Nations."
It added that the non-renewal of the mission "clearly means that the presence of this mission in the southern provinces of the Kingdom, particularly through its personnel, vehicles, equipment, and symbols, should end in the coming days."
Algeria's representative to the United Nations, Amar Benjamaa, expressed his gratitude to Russia and "all member states that chose not to be associated with such a blatant injustice."
He added, "Self-determination has always been a fundamental principle for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, and this is the most recent and unequivocal version of the right of a people to freely choose their future."
The Polisario Front's representative in New York, Sidi Amar, also expressed his "satisfaction" following the rejection of the US resolution.
Last year, the Security Council, under the presidency of the United States, gave unprecedented support to Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, deeming it the “most viable” solution, despite Algeria’s opposition.
The plan, presented by Rabat in 2007, proposes granting autonomy to the vast Saharan territory under Moroccan sovereignty.
Until then, the Security Council had been urging Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania to resume negotiations, which had been stalled since 2019.
Morocco controls most of the vast, phosphate-rich, and fish-abundant Saharan territory, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. However, the United Nations classifies it as a “non-self-governing territory.”
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