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Morocco said Friday that the 35-year chapter of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara had come to an end after the U.N. Security Council failed to extend MINURSO’s mandate following a Russian veto.
In a statement, Morocco’s Royal Court said the council’s decision not to renew the mission for another year meant MINURSO’s presence in what Rabat calls the kingdom’s southern regions should end in the coming days.
“MINURSO was a page that lasted 35 years, and now it has been closed,” the statement said.
Morocco argued that the mission had long served to internationalize the dispute over Western Sahara and said the failure to renew the mandate should also mean the issue is removed from the Security Council’s agenda.
It further argued that regular council meetings, reports by the U.N. secretary-general and briefings by his special envoy on Western Sahara would no longer be necessary.
Russia vetoed a U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution that would have extended MINURSO’s mandate for another year.
Eleven council members voted in favor, while Russia voted against the proposal. China, Pakistan and Somalia abstained.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow opposed attempts in the U.S. draft to reduce MINURSO’s military component and establish Morocco’s autonomy plan as the sole basis for a political settlement.
The U.S. draft proposed extending the mission until Oct. 31, 2027, changing its name from MINURSO to MINUSO, or the U.N. Mission in Western Sahara, and designating Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only basis for negotiations toward a political solution.
The Security Council had adopted Resolution 2797 on Oct. 31, 2025, supporting Morocco’s autonomy initiative for Western Sahara and extending MINURSO’s mandate until Oct. 31.
Tensions over Western Sahara have continued since Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, leading to a conflict with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
Morocco says Western Sahara should remain under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front maintains that the territory should become an independent state.
The Polisario Front fought Moroccan security forces until a U.N.-brokered ceasefire was reached in 1991.
Talks held since the ceasefire have failed to produce an agreement on Western Sahara’s final status.
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