Moroccan Sahara: Washington demands a solution for Tindouf before October 31

The US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, renewed the call for a real solution to the Moroccan Sahara file, in statements published on Wednesday after he met with a delegation from the Polisario Front, about a month before the UN Security Council voted to renew the mission of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), scheduled for October 31, 2026. What did Mike Waltz say? Waltz wrote that the residents of the Tindouf camps “waited 50 years,” and that they deserved “real options instead of an additional decade of waiting,” adding that “The basis of the solution is on the table.” These statements come in the context of a continuous US diplomatic move to push the parties towards overcoming the stalemate that has characterized this file for decades. Morocco's position: Escalating international support For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita, confirmed that Morocco achieved during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly more international support for the autonomy plan, pointing out that the path of settlement is now moving from bilateral support to multilateral consensus within nations In recent months, several countries, including Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Panama, Mauritius, Jamaica and Armenia, have joined the autonomy scheme as a serious basis for a settlement, including through the opening of consulates or representative offices in Morocco's southern provinces. What does October 31 hold? October 31, 2026 constitutes a milestone in this file, as the Security Council is supposed to vote on renewing MINURSO's mission, a year after the adoption of resolution 2797 on October 31, 2025, which was signed by the United States He called on the parties to engage in serious negotiations on the Moroccan autonomy plan, which was approved by 11 votes to 3, with the rest of the members abstaining. This shift in the balance of international support strengthens Rabat's position in the upcoming negotiations, at a time when Washington continues to pressure all parties to end a decades-long conflict for the residents of the Tindouf camps.