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Quoting diplomatic sources within the United Nations (UN), French state-owned international news television network France24 reported, Tuesday, that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reportedly abandoned the idea of appointing Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak as personal envoy to Western Sahara.
However, on February 14, the channel’s New York correspondent reported, quoting diplomatic sources within the UN, that Lajcak is tipped to replace the former UN personal envoy to Western Sahara Horst Kohler, who resigned in May 2019 citing health reasons. France24 confirmed the reports published earlier that week by the French news agency AFP.
French media has taken center stage when it comes to the appointment of a personal envoy to the Sahara, when compared to American and Spanish media.
«The mobilization regarding the appointment of Lajcak shows how interested French media is in the matter. It also shows that Rabat and Paris are not on the same page and that obviously they have different interests», a well-informed source told Yabiladi.
«While AFP and France24 took turns to report on the appointment of a new personal envoy to the Sahara, Morocco maintained silence. However, it insisted on hinting at its disagreement», the same source added.
A new personal envoy to the Sahara
To the same source, the first reason behind Morocco's disagreement «is linked to the past of Miroslav Lajcak, who served both as a representative of the European Union and the United Nations during the negotiations that led to the organization on May 21, 2006 in Montenegro of an independence referendum».
The same source noted that «Rabat has some kind of» allergy «against the diplomats who headed in the past similar operations». Indeed, Morocco had an unstable relationship with the former head of MINURSO, Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber (2012-2014). The German diplomat, in fact, oversaw the East Timor referendum on self-determination on May 20, 2002.
The second reason is related, according to our source, to the timing during which reports emerged on the possible designation of the Slovak minister. The reports emerged only two days after the UN secretary general and the Polisario head met in Addis Ababa. During this meeting Brahim Ghali asked for appointing a new of personal envoy to the Sahara as soon as possible.
It is worth mentioning that unlike the case of the Australian Julie Bishop, the spokesperson for Antonio Guterres did not deny the reports on the possible appointment of Miroslav Lajcak.
Following French reports, the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs said that he would like to continue his diplomatic career in the Balkans. On Monday, he assume his new duties, the same day as the announcement of France 24.
