Jérôme Besnard: Madrid's Position Will Have Major Political Impact on Regional Stability

With this position, "Algeria will no longer be able to rely on Spanish complacency in this matter," Besnard said.

"Things are now clear and the polisario is no longer welcome in Madrid," he added.

According to him, Spain is a "key player in the conflict," adding that "this makes things move in the right direction" and "should help convince France to adopt a position as clear in the coming months".

"It is to be hoped that France will also engage in a real clarity vis-à-vis the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, whose autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only possible way to settle definitively a regional conflict that has lasted too long," said the French academic.

In his eyes, France and the EU have "everything to gain from this warming of Moroccan-Spanish relations," noting that at a time when the Sahel is destabilized by a multitude of factors including foreign interventions and unwelcome, strengthening cooperation between the member states of the European Union and Morocco is a "necessity," he concluded.