St. Kitts and Nevis Backs Morocco’s Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity

Saint Kitts and Nevis expressed its support for a political solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, within the framework of the Kingdom’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Speaking at the UN Committee of 24’s (C-24) regional seminar held in Indonesia, the dual island nation’s representative reiterated her country’s support for the autonomy plan, which the Security Council considers as “serious” and “credible.” She further stressed that this initiative is capable of facilitating the resolution of this artificial conflict that has lasted too long, encouraging the growing support the autonomy plan has received from the international community since it was presented by Morocco in 2007. Emphasizing her country’s support for the UN-led political process, the diplomat pointed out that the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy are capable of guiding this process towards a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution based on compromise, as recommended by the Security Council, in particular in Resolution 2654. In that regard, the representative of St. Kitts and Nevis called for the resumption of the round-table discussions in the same format and with the same participants (i.e. Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the polisario), in a spirit of good faith and cooperation. It also welcomed Morocco’s ongoing efforts to ensure the socio-economic development of the southern provinces, in particular through large-scale projects that have greatly contributed to the empowerment of the local population, including women and youth, and to the improvement of human development indices in the region. It also called on the polisario militias to respect the ceasefire and to cease any obstruction of MINURSO’s operational activities, stressing that such actions are “unacceptable and constitute a violation” of Security Council resolutions.