In the early summer of 2022, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres broached an awkward topic with the Russian mission in New York: The head of the U.N. peace operation in Western Sahara, a Russian national named Alexander Ivanko, was involved in a romantic relationship with a local Moroccan woman and was planning to marry her.
The relationship had become a political problem. It was cited in news reports about the disputed territory, where Morocco has been engaged in a decades-long military campaign to annex the former Spanish colony. The Polisario Front, an armed independence movement, formally complained that the relationship reinforced concerns that the U.N. held a pro-Moroccan bias. The U.N. was keen to head off a wedding.
For some U.N. staffers, what is most disturbing about the exchange was not their boss’ dating activities, though such relationships are generally frowned upon, but that the U.N. chief felt it necessary to solicit Russian involvement to resolve what should have been a purely administrative problem involving an international civil servant.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
