France’s President Emmanuel Macron has told Morocco’s parliament that he believes Western Sahara should be under Moroccan sovereignty, and has pledged to invest French money there.

Who dusted it off and took it out of the archives?

Both Morocco and the Polisario Front have dismissed Staffan de Mistura’s proposal of carving Western Sahara into two territories – one belonging to Morocco, the other independent – with Rabat furious at South Africa’s involvement.

The U.N. envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, has floated the idea of dividing the territory between Morocco and the Polisario front as a solution to the near five-decades-old dispute, according to remarks seen by Reuters.

The European Union’s top court has confirmed an earlier ruling cancelling trade deals that allow Morocco to export fish and farm products to the EU from the disputed Western Sahara region, a move Morocco slammed as “blatant political bias”.

Algeria recalled its ambassador in France “with immediate effect” on Tuesday following a decision by French President Emmanuel Macron to back Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara to become an autonomous region under Moroccan control.

France becomes the latest country to back Morocco’s claim.

Algeria expressed “great regret and strong denunciation” on Thursday about the French government’s decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region “within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Morocco’s permanent representative to the UN on Tuesday called for a resumption of negotiations over the situation in Western Sahara.

A long-standing multi-million euro fisheries deal between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco expired on Monday 17 July due to a dispute over its legality and the inclusion of Western Sahara’s representatives in the negotiations, pending a decision from the EU’s highest court.

Israel has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the Moroccan government and a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office say.