
Morocco Dismisses European PMs ‘Inconsequential' Unauthorized Entry to Southern Provinces
Rabat – Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on Tuesday described an unauthorized entry attempt by four European Parliament Members into Laayoune as 'agitation with no impact' on the country's sovereignty over its southern provinces.
Speaking at a press conference in Rabat following talks with Cape Verde's Foreign Minister, Bourita stressed that Morocco exercises full sovereignty over its southern provinces, just as it does across its entire national territory.
Bourita said that 'the Kingdom, including its southern provinces, welcomes millions of tourists annually, along with official delegations and representatives.'
In this context, he referred to the French Senate President Gerard Larcher's visit to Laayoune on Monday as an example of properly conducted official visits.
Bourita further explained that Morocco, like all countries, has established clear organizational procedures for any visit, whether official, touristic, or for specific missions, which must comply with existing regulations and laws.
'Anyone respecting these rules is welcome,' Morocco's Foreign Minister added, noting that 'the law applies to those who attempt to violate them, as is the case in other countries.'
Authorities did not specify the nationality of the European lawmakers or provide further details about the circumstances of their attempted entry.
Read also: France's Top MP Calls Southern Provinces a Regional 'Success Model'
The incident comes amid ongoing diplomatic tensions regarding Western Sahara, with Morocco securing growing international support for its sovereignty over the southern provinces.
Although provocations come from Algeria and the Polisario separatist front, a growing number of countries have endorsed Morocco's position on the Western Sahara dispute, supporting the country's territorial integrity.
The North African country is winning the diplomatic question internationally, with the latest pivotal position from France to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara on July 30, 2024.
This position has ignited diplomatic tensions between Paris and Algiers, with the latter being upset as it found itself losing one of its historical allies.
In response to Paris' newfound position, which Larcher described on his visit to Morocco's Laayoune as 'not hostile to anyone,' Algeria recalled its ambassador to France, condemning the decision as being against international law.
Larcher again renewed his country's support for Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Read also: International Support for Morocco's Territorial Integrity Grows Stronger

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Maroc
3 hours ago
- Maroc
Africa Takes Maritime Destiny in Hand Under HM the King's Impetus
Under the impetus of HM King Mohammed VI, Africa is taking its maritime destiny into its own hands and repositioning itself as a central player around this Atlantic space, French Euro-African relations expert Guillaume Chaban-Delmas said on Tuesday. The statement was delivered in response to the Sovereign's message to participants in the "Africa for the Ocean" Summit, co-chaired on Monday in Nice by HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa, Representative of His Majesty the King, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Behind this strategic review of the Kingdom's maritime role lie the economic, political and legal issues that will determine the continent's future, explained the French expert. Pointing out that international trade by sea is still organized according to a logic inherited from the colonial period, Chaban-Delmas noted that the vision carried by the Kingdom, under the leadership of HM the King, "engages a dynamic of assertion of Africa as a sovereign power around an Atlantic axis carrying a new balance in the structuring of world trade." According to the perspective defined by HM the King, he explained, the Atlantic Ocean is conceived as a space for South-South cooperation. The Dakhla Atlantic port, he continued, is fully in line with this regional dynamic. He concluded that "the Atlantic must be a space for the co-construction of a legal framework that fully affirms the sovereignty of the African continent." MAP: 10 June 2025


Morocco World
6 hours ago
- Morocco World
New US Report Sheds Light on Polisario's Regional Threats, Growing Support for Morocco
Rabat – Amid a growing support for Morocco's position on Western Sahara, several reports have surfaced to shed light on the dispute, particularly Polisario's links to terrorism, a situation that undermines the whole region and beyond. The National Interest is among the magazines, research publications, and news outlets that tackled the regional instability the Polisario is instigating as it aligns itself with terrorist groups as well as US adversaries, including Iran. Growing momentum for Morocco Recalling the international chorus in support of Morocco's territorial integrity, the National Interest published a comprehensive analysis authored by Ahmed Sahrawi on Monday, stressing that more and more countries are agreeing with the Moroccan security approach to safeguard its southern provinces in Western Sahara and preventing the region from becoming home to a 'jihadist government.' 'The United Kingdom recently recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, joining the United States, France, and Israel,' the same source said. On June 1, the UK joined the international chorus for the first time, announcing Morocco's Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible political solution to end the dispute over Western Sahara. With this decision, the country has been added to a list of over 113 countries that share the same perspective and that seek an end to the stagnant issue. Kenya and Ghana recently shared a similar stance amid Algeria's maneuvers to challenge Morocco's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces. Algeria's regime harbors the Polisario Front in a deserted area, where freedom of speech and movement are restricted. About 90,000 Sahrawis have been stranded in the region, with many seeking escape but unable to leave due to restricted movement, turning Tindouf into an open-air prison for many. Algeria is still barring a census for the region, due to the presumed fact, as many Sahrawis suggest, that most of the Tindouf residents are Algerians or from other countries and regions like Tuaregs and nationals of neighboring countries, such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Former Polisario members, including Mustafa Salma, suggest that as little as 20% of the real Sahrawis were forced to take shelter in the camps. 'The Polisario has, in recent years, aligned itself with some of the most radical actors in the region,' the National Interest wrote, recalling how the region became a breeding ground for 'jihadist recruitment and a nexus for extremist networks operating across the Sahel.' The publication further stressed the well-documented ties between the separatist group and terrorist groups, recalling Adnan Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi, a former Polisario member who also led the Islamic State in the Greater Sahel before he was killed by French forces in Mali in 2021. The same source also recalled Polisario's breaking of the UN Ceasefire in 2020, when Morocco peacefully intervened to halt Polisario's blockade in Guerguerat near the Mauritanian border, affecting trade relations. The analyst further detailed the multiple threats and attacks the Polisario Front has been carrying out, targeting Moroccan civilians as well as foreign businesses operating in southern provinces since 2021. In May, members of the Polisario Front, including Mustapha Sidi Ali El Bachir, sent their threats to Moroccans, foreign businesses, as well as tourists visiting southern provinces. The Polisario member appeared in a video on May 1, noting that the separatist group is reiterating and confirming that 'in line with Polisario's statement from November 13, 2020, announcing the return to war, any foreign investor or tourist in the Sahara is putting their life at risk.' 'Let the Sahrawi stay away from foreigners and not come telling us they're civilians or innocent. This is not a tourism context, but a wartime context,' he said. Increasing awareness of Polisario's fake activism The National Interest is not the first US-based website to highlight Polisario's threats to the region. In May, The Daily Signal issued a similar comprehensive piece, in which it recalled that high-ranking officials, like Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, have sought to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist group due to its malicious activities targeting the region's stability. The outlet also criticized the US administration for ignoring Polisario's threats. Notably, the report also mentioned Polisario's armed threats and its unilateral decision to withdraw from the UN-brokered ceasefire in 2020. Like the National interest, the Daily Signal also referenced Iran's support for the Polisario Front through its proxy Hezbollah, which Morocco accused of training and arming the Polisario Front through a collusion with Algeria. 'Polisario's threats rest on a foundation of Algerian sanctuary plus three mutually reinforcing pillars: Iranian military assistance, a growing Russian influence network, and a mature trans-Sahel illicit economy that overlaps with jihadist financing streams,' the Daily Signal wrote. In April, the Washington Post quoted sources who confirmed that Hezbollah trained Polisario to serve and advance its regional interests. 'Over the years, Iran has fostered a wide array of proxy groups to advance its interests,' the report said, quoting a regional official and a third European official who said Iran trained fighters from the 'Algeria-based Polisario Front' that are now detained by Syria's new security forces. In the same month, a report published by the Hudson Institute dismissed Polisario's self-portrayal as a liberation movement, describing the separatist group as a paramilitary organization that functions as 'a destabilizing militia.' Notably, the report, authored by Zineb Riboua, documented how the Polisario's activities 'go far beyond the standard for a terror designation.' Also in the same month, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar Michael Rubin published a piece , urging the UN to cease recognizing the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, in which he described the group as 'a vestige of the Cold War.' Rubin challenged the international community's stance on Polisario's legitimacy, asserting that 'no one has ever elected them to such a position and no one has given the Sahrawi any say.' Tags: Algeria and the Western SaharaPolisario and Algeria


Ya Biladi
10 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
Mauritanian army uncovers hidden Polisario missile stockpile aimed at Morocco
A Mauritanian army patrol has uncovered a significant stockpile of missiles that the Polisario had hidden on Mauritanian soil, reportedly intended for attacks on targets in Morocco. «There are about fifty Grad-type missiles, with a range of 25 to 40 km. These projectiles were used by Polisario armed militias in October and November 2023 against civilian targets in Es-Smara», a source close to the matter told Yabiladi. The Polisario's «commander of the 3rd military region» attempted to retrieve the missiles but was unsuccessful. The Mauritanian army rejected his request, just as President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani had refused, days earlier, the Polisario's appeals to reopen the Lebriga region. It is worth recalling that this same commander was part of the delegation sent to Nouakchott to persuade President El Ghazouani to lift the closure of the Lebriga region, a route the Polisario uses clandestinely to launch attacks on Moroccan positions east of the Sand Wall.