Rome (Italia) 04 October 2024 (SPS)– Stefano Vaccari, President of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Friendship with the Saharawi People, has called for immediate diplomatic action from the European governments following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), issued Today.
The court declared the trade agreements between the European Union and Morocco involving Western Sahara as illegal, a decision Vaccari hailed as a historic moment for the Saharawi people's right to self-determination.
"The ECJ ruling finally recognizes the ownership and the right of self-determination of the Saharawi people, who were forcibly expelled from their lands by the Moroccan army in 1976," Vaccari stated.
He emphasized that the Saharawi people, exiled in Algeria's for nearly five decades, continue to suffer "unheard-of violence in Western Sahara," under the Moroccan illegal occupation, a situation that Amnesty International has repeatedly highlighted in its annual reports.
This ruling, according to Vaccari, underscores "the clear boundary between legality and abuse" concerning Morocco's occupation of the territory.
He urged Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to engage all necessary diplomatic initiatives through international bodies to facilitate the Saharawi people's return to their homeland, which remains illegally occupied.
"Enough with looking the other way," Vaccari declared, reaffirming that the intergroup will continue to support the Polisario Front’s struggle for independence and liberation of Western Sahara on all fronts.
He also called on the Italian Parliament to discuss the motion on Western Sahara, which was introduced more than 18 months ago, but remains pending.
Vaccari's remarks come in the wake of increased international recognition of the Sahrawi plight under the Moroccan illegal occupation and confirmation of Sahrawi people’s rights to freedom and independence under international law.
It should be recalled that the European Court of Justice (CJEU) reaffirmed, in a landmark decision delivered early Today, that Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara and that the occupied territory cannot be included in any EU-Morocco trade or fisheries agreements. The ruling, read out by the President of the Court at 09:55 on 4 October, rejected all EU appeals and confirmed the conclusions of the Court’s first chamber.
The President of the EU Court of Justice, Koen Lenaerts, clarified that EU-Morocco trade and fisheries agreements that currently involve Western Sahara must cease within one year. The Court considers that the European Commission had breached the right of people in Western Sahara to self-determination by concluding trade deals with Morocco.
In its reaction to the ruling, the Sahrawi Presidency issued a Press Release that “the Court's rulings represent a great victory for the Sahrawi people, unprecedented in the history of decolonization, and strengthen their struggle for freedom and independence. Marking the triumph of international legality over the fait accompli, the rulings deal a fatal blow to the Moroccan occupier, depriving it of economic and political leverage to maintain its illegal presence in the territory and pursue its illegal policy of colonizing the territory by plundering Sahrawi natural resources.” (SPS)
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