Morocco’s Royal Cabinet Hails End of MINURSO Mandate

Rabat (GNP): Morocco’s Royal Cabinet has welcomed the end of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), calling it a 35-year chapter now closed. The UN Security Council did not renew the mandate at its meeting on Friday, 30 October 2026.

The decision followed a tense session. Earlier that evening, Russia vetoed an American draft resolution that was supported by 11 of the 15 members. The draft consolidated autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the sole basis for negotiations and renamed MINURSO.

A Russian counter-proposal, which would have extended the mission for one year without any changes, was also rejected, with Washington voting against it. With no text adopted, the mandate of the mission, which has been deployed since 1991, was not renewed.

The Royal Cabinet described this as an important development and a significant step towards the definitive closure of the Moroccan Sahara issue at the UN. It said the outcome coincides with the celebration of the Feast of Unity, decreed by King Mohammed VI, which embodies a break in the management of this file, moving from simple management to a profound transformation of its parameters.

The Cabinet said the non-renewal clearly means that the mission’s presence in the kingdom’s southern provinces, including its personnel, vehicles, equipment and symbols, should end in the coming days. It described the mission as a product of an anachronistic and bygone context, which had long served to internationalise the regional dispute over the kingdom’s legitimate recovery of its Saharan provinces.

It added that the non-renewal should also end the referral to the Security Council and remove the item from its agenda. In its view, the Council’s periodic statutory meetings on the issue, the reports of the UN Secretary-General and the briefings of his Personal Envoy would no longer be appropriate.

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The Cabinet said the UN political process, which it said was marked by the procrastination and stubbornness of the other parties, is therefore suspended. It added that similar steps will soon be taken in other UN bodies.

While expressing satisfaction, Morocco said it remains firmly committed to the ceasefire, with strict respect for its territorial integrity, national security and the tranquillity of its citizens.

The Cabinet also said the international dynamic launched by the King will continue at bilateral and regional levels. It said more than two-thirds of UN members, including permanent members of the Security Council and influential powers, clearly support autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the only framework to settle this regional dispute.

The Royal Cabinet said, “It is a 35-year-old page that is now turned.”