For Morocco's King Mohammed VI, this summer could go down in history. For five decades, the Western Sahara, a territory to the south of the country, has been at the center of a conflict which might now end.

The phosphate-rich region with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean is home to the around 160,000 local Sahrawi people who have been seeking autonomy ever since Spain withdrew from the area in 1975.

The Sahrawis are represented by the Polisario Front, which is backed by neighboring Algeria. But Rabat claims the territory belongs to Morocco.

As a consequence of this on-going dispute, Morocco and Algeria have clashed repeatedly, and have cut ties in 2020, even though Algeria does not seek control of the Western Sahara itself.

Over the past years, Morocco has gained more and more support for its claim on the region and this summer, France changed its diplomatic stance, too.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the coronation of King Mohammed VI, the 61-year-old monarch received a congratulatory letter by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he said that from now on, France will be supporting Morocco's plan for the Western Sahara.

This plan, which was initially proposed by Rabat in 2007, includes creating autonomous political institutions in the region as well as pushing economic development including a........

© Deutsche Welle