Spain turned to the United States of America in the hope that it would contribute to resolving the current diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.
And the newspaper Confidencial reported that the Spanish Foreign Minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, phoned her American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, and informed him that the decision of former US President Donald Trump, which recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, had consequences for Spain.
And the newspaper quoted sources that Laya asked, in the call, which took place on Friday, to help the administration of President Joe Biden, in solving the problem caused by the former American president, according to the Spanish minister’s expression.
But the statement of the US and Spanish State Departments issued after the call did not refer, according to the newspaper, to the diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain.
Rabat hopes that Spain, which was the colonial power of the Sahara until 1975, will follow Trump’s example and recognize its sovereignty over the region.
On December 10, Trump recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.
And if the Biden administration begins mediating the crisis with Morocco, this will be the second time that Spain resorts to the United States to resolve a dispute with its southern neighbor, after the first time in 2002 during the Leila Island crisis.
The newspaper said that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will hold a short meeting with Biden, on Monday, on the sidelines of the NATO summit that will be held in Brussels. And if time permits, he will, in turn, insist that the United States should be involved in resolving the Spanish-Moroccan conflict.
The entry of the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia El Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario) to hospital in northern Spain caused a major diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco, which he considers a “war criminal.” Unprecedented.
