Burundi has reaffirmed its support for Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara. This position was reiterated in a joint communiqué issued at the conclusion of the first session of the Morocco-Burundi Joint Cooperation Commission, held on Monday, May 12, in Rabat. The meeting was co-chaired by Burundian Foreign Minister Albert Shingiro and his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita. In the communiqué, Minister Shingiro praised the international momentum initiated several years ago by King Mohammed VI in support of the Moroccan Sahara and the autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco. He described the Moroccan autonomy plan, presented in 2007, as the «only credible and realistic solution» to resolving the regional dispute. He also welcomed the efforts of the United Nations, which he considered the exclusive framework for reaching a realistic, practical, and lasting resolution to the Sahara conflict. In October 2024, Shingiro led an economic delegation to Morocco, where he met with Bourita—a follow-up to an earlier meeting with the Algerian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It is also worth noting that in December 2024, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf visited Burundi, carrying a message from the Algerian president to his Burundian counterpart. In January 2021, relations between Rabat and Gitega briefly experienced tensions, but mutual understanding quickly prevailed.
