Africa

The Polisario Front condemns Macron’s decision to defend “Moroccan sovereignty” of the Sahara

The Polisario Front condemns Macron's decision to defend "Moroccan sovereignty" of the Sahara

MADRID 30 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Polisario Front has condemned this Tuesday the decision expressed before the Moroccan Parliament by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to defend the “Moroccan sovereignty” of Western Sahara in international bodies, alleging that support from Paris “will only lead to the region of North Africa and the Sahel to instability and an escalation of tensions” in the region.

The Sahrawi Ministry of Information has expressed “in the strongest terms the shameful position expressed” by Macron and has recalled that this position is contrary to the UN Charter and its resolutions relating to Western Sahara, as well as “contradictory to the responsibilities of the French State as a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council, which is supposed to be the first to defend respect for International Law”.

“This position of France is nothing more than an encouragement to the illegal Moroccan military occupation and support for it to continue its barbaric aggression against the Sahrawi people and would push the regions of northern and western Africa into more tension and instability. With this position “Macron does nothing more than encourage the Moroccan occupier to continue his dangerous adventure aimed at greater expansion and changing internationally recognized borders, attacking his neighbors and seizing their lands,” he said.

In this sense, he has regretted that it may “drag” the European Union to contradict the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which annulled the fishing and trade agreements by considering them illegal due to the lack of explicit endorsement of the Sahrawi population. . “(This) is a reckless, irresponsible and imprudent policy. It has serious consequences for international peace and security,” he warned.

While he has maintained that Macron “has shown that Paris is the one that hinders the UN’s efforts to decolonize Western Sahara”, he has stressed “in contrast to the belief” of the French president that his position “is not hostile towards anyone” in reality. “It is an attack” on the Sahrawi people and their rights to self-determination and independence, as well as UN resolutions and International Law.

For this reason, he recalled that “neither Macron nor anyone else can decide on behalf of this people” the sovereignty over Western Sahara and has assured that the Polisario Front “will frustrate all the plans of the Moroccan occupation and those who support it, such as the colonial France”, including through armed struggle and the intensification of attacks, according to a statement collected by the SPS news agency.

Macron has indicated that France will be on Morocco’s side in all its “existential questions”, a category in which it includes, “of course”, the future of Western Sahara. The premise of Rabat – and now also of Paris – collides with the frontal rejection of the Polisario Front, which claims the right to self-determination. Macron has clarified that “this position is not hostile to anyone”, without directly alluding to Polisario or its main ally in the region, Algeria, which degraded its relations with France after the latest turn.

The former Spanish colony of Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco in 1975 despite the resistance of the Polisario Front, with whom it remained at war until 1991, when both parties signed a ceasefire with a view to holding a self-determination referendum. The differences over the preparation of the census and the inclusion or not of Moroccan settlers have prevented it from being called so far.

The last setback for the Sahrawi people was the support of the Spanish and French governments for the Moroccan autonomy plan, a change of position described as betrayal by the Polisario Front, which also recalls that Spain is still ‘de jure’ the administrative power of the Sahara. Western.

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