The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has been left in limbo after Russia and the United States vetoed each other's draft resolutions to extend it, one day before the mandate was due to expire.
The rival vetoes came on Friday, when the US tabled a Security Council draft that would have extended the mission's mandate for one year. That text would have made Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara the only basis for negotiations, cut the mission's military component and renamed the force from MINURSO to MINUSO, dropping the 'R' that refers to a referendum on self-determination. Russia vetoed the proposal, with 11 of the 15 council members voting in favour and three abstaining. The US then blocked a Russian draft that would have renewed the mission on the same terms as before.
MINURSO was established in 1991 to oversee a settlement plan and ceasefire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front in a territorial dispute spanning half a century. Morocco considers Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, as its territory, while the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, represents the indigenous Sahrawi people and seeks an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic. Last year, the Security Council backed Morocco's autonomy proposal as the "most feasible" solution for the disputed territory.
Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said after the vote: "We stress the fact that the Security Council cannot automatically pre-determine matters relating to sovereignty." He added: "The Security Council must not give a blessing to such a one-sided approach. Therefore we were compelled to block the adoption of the draft."
The US representative to the UN, Michael Waltz, said: "Unfortunately, some members of this Council have used their veto to preserve the letter 'R' for referendum in the mission's name, even though the United Nations has not been preparing to hold such a vote for decades."
Morocco's royal palace welcomed the failure to renew the mission, saying it "should mark the end of the Security Council's involvement and the removal of this issue from its agenda." The Polisario Front's UN representative, Sidi Omar, thanked Russia for vetoing the US resolution, which he said "would have undermined the free exercise by the Sahrawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence."
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The Security Council has failed to agree on extending a peacekeeping deployment that has overseen the Western Sahara ceasefire since 1991, leaving the mission's fate unresolved as its mandate expires.
- The deadlock is a direct clash over the territory's future: the US-backed text elevated Morocco's autonomy plan as the sole negotiating basis, while Russia and the Polisario Front insist on the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
- With the council split, Morocco is calling for the issue to be removed from the Security Council's agenda, while the Polisario Front says the blocked US resolution would have undermined its claims.
Background
MINURSO was created in 1991 to implement a settlement plan and monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front. Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony that Morocco regards as its own territory, while the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, seeks an independent Sahrawi Republic. The Security Council last year described Morocco's autonomy proposal as the "most feasible" solution for the disputed territory.
Key Perspectives
Russia: Says the Security Council cannot automatically pre-determine matters relating to sovereignty and must not give a blessing to a one-sided approach; it used its veto on the US draft.
United States: Says some council members used their veto to preserve the letter 'R' for referendum in the mission's name even though the UN has not been preparing such a vote for decades; it vetoed the Russian draft.
Morocco's royal palace: Welcomed the failure to renew the mission, saying it should mark the end of the Security Council's involvement and the removal of the issue from its agenda.
Polisario Front: Thanked Russia for blocking the US resolution, which its UN representative said would have undermined the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence.
What to Watch
- Whether a revised draft is tabled, given that the US text won 11 votes in the 15-member council and may return in altered form.
- Whether Morocco's call for Western Sahara to be removed from the Security Council's agenda gains traction.
- How Algeria, which backs the Polisario Front, responds to the deadlock.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
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- SupportedRussia and the United States vetoed each other’s drafts one day before the mission’s mandate expired, leaving the mission in limbo.DW English: “The fate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has been left in a limbo after Russia and the United States vetoed each other's draft resolutions on extending the mission that is over three decades long — just one day before the mandate expires.”
- SupportedThe US draft would have dropped the “R” for referendum from the mission’s name, and Washington blocked a Russian draft.DW English: “Friday's failed US draft resolution would have gone further and rebranded the peacekeeping force from MINURSO to MINUSO, dropping the 'R' which refers to referendum on the territory's self-determination. ... The US, with its own veto, then blocked a Russian draft”
- SupportedRussia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said: “We stress the fact that the Security Council cannot automatically pre-determine matters relating to sovereignty.”DW English: “"We stress the fact that the Security Council cannot automatically pre-determine matters relating to sovereignty," Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said.”
- SupportedNebenzia added: “The Security Council must not give a blessing to such a one-sided approach. Therefore we were compelled to block the adoption of the draft.”DW English: “"The Security Council must not give a blessing to such a one-sided approach. Therefore we were compelled to block the adoption of the draft," he added.”
- SupportedUS representative Michael Waltz said some council members had used their veto “to preserve the letter 'R' for referendum in the mission's name,” despite the UN not preparing to hold such a vote for decades.DW English: “"Unfortunately, some members of this Council have used their veto to preserve the letter 'R' for referendum in the mission's name, even though the United Nations has not been preparing to hold such a vote for decades," the US representative to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, said after the vote.”
- SupportedMorocco’s royal palace said the mission’s failure to renew “should mark the end of the Security Council's involvement and the removal of this issue from its agenda.”DW English: “Morocco's royal palace welcomed the failure to renew the peacekeeping mission and said that this "should mark the end of the Security Council's involvement and the removal of this issue from its agenda."”
- SupportedPolisario Front UN representative Sidi Omar said the US resolution “would have undermined the free exercise by the Sahrawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.”DW English: “The Polisario Front's UN representative, Sidi Omar, thanked Russia for vetoing the US resolution that he said "would have undermined the free exercise by the Sahrawi people of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence."”
- SupportedThe US draft would have extended the mission’s mandate for one year.DW English: “On Friday, the US tabled a draft resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) that would have extended the mandate for one year”
- SupportedThe US draft would have made Morocco’s autonomy plan the only basis for negotiations to settle the conflict.DW English: “while making a Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara the only basis for negotiations to settle the conflict”
- SupportedThe US draft would have cut the mission’s military component.DW English: “and cutting the mission's military component.”
- SupportedThe US draft would have renamed the force from MINURSO to MINUSO, dropping the “R” referring to referendum on self-determination.DW English: “Friday's failed US draft resolution would have gone further and rebranded the peacekeeping force from MINURSO to MINUSO, dropping the 'R' which refers to referendum on the territory's self-determination.”
- SupportedEleven of the 15 Security Council members voted in favour of the US proposal and three abstained.DW English: “A total of 11 of the 15 UNSC members voted in its favor and three abstained.”