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UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged the end of MINURSO on November 1 and announced that the mission would begin winding down. His statement makes no mention of a referendum or any return to the past. MINURSO is now history, and the UN is calling on the parties to help ensure its withdrawal as quickly as possible.

Nasser Bourita appeared on a special program broadcast by 2M on Saturday, October 31, to discuss the end of the mandate of the MINURSO. The minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates said Russia’s veto had come as “no surprise” to Morocco, which had anticipated the move. He presented the situation as an opportunity to change rules inherited from the past and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to the ceasefire. Below is the full transcript of his remarks.

The US-drafted resolution failed to pass the Security Council after Russia exercised its veto. But with 11 votes in favor and three abstentions, the vote highlighted a significant shift in the Council’s position, placing Morocco’s autonomy initiative under its sovereignty at the center of efforts to reach a political settlement.

The UN Security Council is due to vote on a landmark Sahara resolution on Friday, October 30. The text is expected to make Morocco’s autonomy plan the sole basis for negotiations, strip the referendum reference from MINURSO’s name and require a census in Tindouf. Together, the measures would mark a decisive endorsement of Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory. Here is what to expect from the vote.

The revised UN Security Council draft on the Sahara is softer in tone, but its central provisions remain intact. Washington has agreed to a more flexible timetable for restructuring the UN mission and restored familiar language to win broader support. What has not changed is the fundamental shift towards Morocco’s autonomy plan as the sole basis for negotiations, with the referendum option removed from the mission’s name and mandate.

By advocating democratic, pluralist representation and embracing Morocco’s autonomy initiative as a pragmatic solution, the Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP) has emerged as a credible alternative to the Polisario Front. Its diplomatic breakthroughs in New York and growing international support are reshaping the political landscape, challenging the Polisario’s claim to exclusive representation and unsettling its backers in Algiers.

The US-led diplomatic push behind the draft 2026 UN Security Council resolution on the Sahara issue threatens to consign not only the referendum but also the Polisario Front to history. By making Morocco’s autonomy plan the sole basis for negotiations, treating the separatist movement’s actions as criminal and recognizing the emergence of credible alternatives such as the Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP), the international community is signaling that the militia’s time is up, opening a new chapter for the people living in the Tindouf camps.

The first draft of the UN Security Council’s 2026 resolution on the Sahara signals an unprecedented shift in the UN’s approach to the dispute. It establishes autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the only viable political solution and the sole basis for negotiations. MINURSO would become MINUSO, dropping the referendum from both its name and its mandate. Its peacekeeping role would end on April 30, 2027, making way for a special political mission. Here is what the draft proposes.

The Polisario is threatening to cut ties with the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, accusing him of siding with Morocco. Staffan de Mistura is open to criticism on many counts. Partiality is not one of them. But the real significance of the statement lies elsewhere. It is the latest sign of the mounting anxiety that has gripped the Polisario and its backers in Algiers in recent weeks. With another Security Council resolution approaching, it is now the other side that has reason to be afraid.