MOROCCO, July 18 - Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, welcomed the autonomy plan presented by the Kingdom to reach a solution to the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, calling it a "significant" initiative and a "step forward".

"The autonomy plan presented by Morocco is an important plan, significant and a step forward," said, Friday, the Portuguese FM in a statement to the news agency Lusa.

According to João Gomes Cravinho, it would be appropriate now ''that there is a movement to unblock the current situation'' of this issue.

"Portugal is a neighbor. We have excellent relations with Morocco and Algeria. We understand that it would be very important to achieve progress towards the pacification of this situation," added the Portuguese official, on the sidelines of the closing session of the cycle of conferences "Diplomacy and independence of Portugal" at the Palace of Independence in Lisbon.

He said, in this regard, have sent an invitation to the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Moroccan Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to visit Portugal.

MAP 17 July 2022