VilanovaiLa Geltru (Spain), 18 November 2016 (SPS) – President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, noted with satisfaction the positive developments that have taken place politically, legally and judicially in Europe in relation to the Sahrawi cause, in a speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people.
In the speech delivered on his behalf by the President of the National Council, Khatri Adouh, the President of the Republic emphasized “the ruling of the European General Court issued in December 2015 and the opinion of the EU General Advocate Mr Wathelet delivered in September 2016 have debunked categorically the remaining misconceptions and fallacies in relation to the European legal engagement with the Moroccan-Sahrawi conflict”.
“For the European Union, as is the case of the United Nations and the African Union and others, the Kingdom of Morocco does not exercise any sovereignty over Western Sahara and therefore the EU-Moroccan agreements do not include the territories of the Sahrawi Republic and its territorial waters. In addition to establishing the fact that Spain is still legally responsible for the Territory as a colonial administering power, the ruling also affirmed that the Frente POLISARIO is the sole legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and that it has legal competence to present legal cases before European courts,” added the President of the Republic.
The President of the Republic lamented “Despite these unequivocal legal and judicial facts, in practice the position of the European Union in this regard is still fraught with indifference and contradiction. Europe is responsible for the outbreak of the Moroccan Sahrawi conflict given the fact that Spain has not yet fulfilled its duty as a colonial administering power of Western Sahara regarding the decolonisation of the Territory.”
“Europe is responsible for the continuation of the conflict because parties such as France and Spain continue to support the Moroccan aggressive expansionism militarily, economically and diplomatically. Europe is responsible for the suffering of the Sahrawi people because France, Spain and other parties continue to conclude agreements, contracts and partnerships that violate international law and the ruling of the European General Court itself,” further said the President of the Republic in the speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people. (SPS)
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