The dispute over the Western Sahara, despite being one of North Africa’s most protracted conflicts, has long been perceived as an issue with little bearing on Europe’s core interests. This view, however, has become dangerously outdated. The region, and especially Morocco, is emerging as a key partner in Europe’s ongoing and accelerated green energy transition whose aims include reducing the continent’s dependence on Russian hydrocarbons. But ongoing challenges to Rabat’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, recognized only by the United States and Israel until now but not the UN, pose serious risks to this transition. This has far-reaching implications for NATO’s southern security and the EU’s energy resilience.
North African Stability Powers Europe’s Energy Transition (Maurizio Geri – German Marshall Fund of the United States)
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