June 20, 2021 – 5:40 pm – World
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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken summoned his Spanish counterpart, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, to help Spain resolve the diplomatic crisis with Morocco. The Spaniards see the decision of former US President Donald Trump to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara as the source of the current crisis.
The Spanish government is asking for US support in the crisis with Morocco, which escalated further in April when it became known that Polisario leader Ibrahim Ghali was hospitalized in the Spanish town of Logroño. In a telephone conversation with her American counterpart Anthony Blinken, the Spanish foreign minister expressed her desire to find a solution to the diplomatic crisis with Morocco. She also stated that the bad relations came as a result of Donald Trump’s decree on the Moroccan Sahara, according to the Spanish newspaper secrecy.
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Last Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with US President Joe Biden at the NATO Summit in Brussels. This is the first time the Spanish prime minister has met President Biden since he took up residence at the White House on January 20 this year. Sanchez also tried to persuade the United States to play an active role in resolving the crisis between Spain and Morocco.
Good relations between the two countries began to crumble after former US President Donald Trump signed a decree on December 10, 2020, recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. On the same day, Spain indefinitely postponed a summit between the two countries’ governments. Morocco would like to see Spain support the recognition, but Minister Gonzalez Laya recently said that Spain has no intention of changing its position.
