Resolution 2797: the autonomy plan moves to the centre of the talks

On 31 October 2025, the Security Council renewed MINURSO and asked the parties to negotiate from Morocco’s 2007 plan.

Eleven votes in favour. Three abstentions. Algeria did not take part.

On 31 October 2025, the Security Council adopted resolution 2797. The United States drafted the text. It renews MINURSO for one year, until 31 October 2026, and changes the way the file is discussed.

The Council backs the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy in leading talks based on the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco. It asks the parties to take part without preconditions, and says that genuine autonomy could be the most realistic solution.

Eleven members voted in favour. Russia, China and Pakistan abstained. Algeria did not take part in the vote. France was explicit: for Paris, the present and the future of the Sahara sit within Moroccan sovereignty.

This is not the end of the story. It is the end of a certain ambiguity. The reference text remains the one Morocco handed to the United Nations on 11 April 2007: wide autonomy, under Moroccan sovereignty.

Source note. Security Council, 31 October 2025; French statement at the United Nations.