African country to step out of the union, because the Polisario Front, representing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was awarded a seat. After Moroccan independence in 1956 and the death of King Mohammed V, the government of King Hassan II laid claim on several territories, successfully acquiring the Tarfaya Strip, after the Ifni War with Spain, and much of the territory around Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the acquisition of much of Spanish Sahara after Spain handed the territory to Morocco and Mauritania (see the Madrid Accords, it is still currently under dispute with the Polisario front who claim it as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic). In 1982, Spain entered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However Ceuta and Melilla are not under NATO protection since Article 6 of the treaty limits the coverage to Europe and North America. The Canary Islands are protected as they are islands north of the Tropic of Cancer. Legal experts have interpreted that other articles could cover the Spanish North African cities but this take has not been tested in practice. In 2002, an armed incident erupted between Morocco and Spain, regarding the uninhabited Perejil Island, located 250m off the Moroccan northern coast. On July 11, 2002 a group of Moroccan soldiers set up base on the islet, violating the status quo situation agreed between both States. The Moroccan government said that they set foot on the island in order to monitor illegal immigration, which was denied by the Spanish government since there had been little co-operation in the matter by that time (a repeated source of complaint from Spain). After protests from the Spanish government, led by José María Aznar, the soldiers were replaced by Moroccan navy cadets who then installed a fixed base on the island. On the morning of July 18, 2002 Spain launched a full-scale military operation to take over the island. The operation was successful and the Moroccan navy cadets were dislodged from the island in a matter of hours without offering any resistance to the Spanish Grupo de Operaciones Especiales (commando) attack force. The islet returned to its status quo situation and is now deserted. It is to highlight the mediation role offered by the United States, and the lack of collaboration of France towards its European allies during the crisis. In 2021, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Morocco's sovereignty of the Western Sahara in