Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEPs urge the European Union to address France’s Sahara recognition.
France’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara persists in annoying Polisario backers in Spain. This is evidenced by a letter inscribed by ten Spanish MEPs and addressed to the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, according to the letter’s writer, MEP Ana Miranda of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG).
Why are MEPs urging EU action on Sahara recognition?
MEP Miranda’s initiative has been endorsed by representatives of Sumar, Podemos, Bildu, the Catalan Republican Left, and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). They are insisting on Borrell’s rule on the serious diplomatic affront by President Emmanuel Macron, assuming that any unilateral position of approval for one of the parties risks leading the region to a conflict that would put the area in even greater danger.
How does Macron’s stance impact Western Sahara diplomacy?
Spanish MEPs claim that Emmanuel Macron’s position totally in acceptance of Morocco demonstrates a lack of respect for international law, the arrangements on Western Sahara, and a lack of legitimacy (…) “The Sahara does not belong to Morocco, as specified in the various United Nations resolutions.”
Will the CJEU ruling affect EU-Morocco contracts over Sahara?
MEPs represent their conviction that the upcoming appeal verdict of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the legality of the contracts concluded between Morocco and the EU, including those linked to the Sahara, “will surely prove the Polisario Front right”. The day after France’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over of the Sahara, Josep Borrell stated that the European Union’s role on the question of the Sahara remained “unchanged”. “It is the responsibility of each Member State to react according to its positions”, emphasized the head of EU diplomacy.
How does MEP Ana Miranda advocate for the Polisario Front?
MEP Ana Miranda is known for supporting the Polisario’s positions. In December 2023, she invited Josep Borrell to specify, within the European External Action Service (EEAS), a division exclusively responsible for the Sahara matter. This request was denied by the head of European diplomacy.
In the middle of the discussion on the resolution calling for the release of journalists imprisoned in Morocco, in January 2023, she skipped the subject then on the agenda to address the Sahara issue. “By refusing to form committees of inquiry into torture and human rights violations committed by Morocco in the Sahara, the European Parliament is complicit with the Moroccan occupier”, she accused.
