Under the aegis of the Embassy of Morocco in Brussels, an international symposium was organized on October 27th at “Palais des Académies” under the theme “The Moroccan Initiative of Autonomy for the Sahara, Challenges, and Perspectives.” Around sixty persons attended this event.
The symposium was marked by interventions, all of which praised the Moroccan autonomy approach, judged in conformity with international law, as a way to settle the conflicts peacefully. It was also considered a means to integrate communities of the autonomous zone by calling them to manage their affairs under the autonomy plan and, above all, an instrument to ensure the Maghreb’s integration and pacification.
Instructive examples have been given in this respect, such as the Canary Islands, the Swiss cantons, or the German landers, which provide their respective countries with firm stability and well-being appreciated at the national level.
This meeting was chaired by Pierre D’Argent, a professor at the University of Leuven, and was marked by multiple interventions.
Marc Finaud, an independent expert at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), tackled “territorial autonomy, a means of political conflict resolution,” while Yves Lejeune, professor at the University of Leuven, discussed “the concept of autonomy in public law and international law.”
Zakaria Abouddahab, professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, talked about “the Moroccan autonomy initiative and international law.” In addition to Jean Josep Vallabe, a professor at the University of Barcelona, whose intervention was on “the autonomy project of the Sahara region, in the light of the Canary experience,” and Olamide M.Samuel, from the Center for International Studies and Diplomacy in Nigeria, reviewed “the impact of the settlement of the regional dispute on the Sahara on peace and security in Africa.”
Among the participants was Patrick Saerens, a professor of economic law at the Catholic Institute of Higher Commercial Studies in Brussels, and Hugues Bayet, deputy and president of the “Belgian Committee to Support Moroccan Sovereignty in Western Sahara” (COBESA), who debated on “the international dynamics of support for the Moroccan autonomy initiative, the case of the Belgian autonomy support committee for the Sahara region.”
Herman de Croo, Minister of State in Belgium, was also present and delivered a speech about the “stability and integration of the Maghreb, a necessity for the Mediterranean and European neighborhood.”
