Italian Think Tank: Autonomy, Development and Stability of Region Must be 'Cornerstone of New Framework of Legality, Mutual Recognition'

The Italian think tank noted, in an analysis of the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, that the solution to political tensions surrounding this issue will be through autonomy that will guarantee the collective and individual rights of the Sahrawi people, supported by ambitious projects of economic and social integration.

For the Italian think tank, "this project could represent the right meeting point between the interests and expectations of all parties involved, provided that we engage - in the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres - with realism and a spirit of compromise".

In this regard, the Italian think tank noted that diplomatic initiatives are the only way to resolve this regional conflict that has lasted too long, citing as "relevant facts": "the new German stance on the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the region presented by Morocco in 2007 and deemed by the new Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock as an important contribution towards a peace agreement, and the role of Italy, which, in its silent style, has kept the channels of communication with the Algerian and Moroccan authorities firm and constant".

"The diplomatic activity of Germany and Italy could have an extraordinary stabilizing effect on the crisis and strengthen the new mission of Staffan de Mistura, the appointed Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara", according to the Italian think tank.

Recalling the first tour carried out by the latter, the Italian Centre for International Studies believes that "this trip has allowed the parties to analyze the opportunities guaranteed by the 2007 proposal on autonomy in the region, which can represent an interesting preliminary basis for discussion, to then advance on their respective positions and reasons".