Brussels, 28 March 2022 (SPS) - A group of 19 MEPs (members of the Intergroup on Western Sahara) has expressed "its deep rejection" of the new position of the Spanish government on Western Sahara, calling on the EU High Representative to defend international law in this non-autonomous territory.
In a letter addressed to the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borell, the parliamentary group expressed its "deep rejection of the decision adopted by the head of the Spanish government regarding the Western Sahara.
In this context, MEPs called on Josep Borrell to defend, on behalf of the EU, respect for international law in Western Sahara, while ensuring that "denying the right of the Sahrawi people to the decolonization of its territory is to choose the side of the brutal occupation of Morocco and its systemic violation of human rights".
The MEPs, from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Greens/EFA, Renew Europe and the Left (GUE/NGL) political groups, recalled that Western Sahara is the last territory to be decolonized in Africa, stressing that "as a non-self-governing territory, it is up to Spain, as the last colonial power, to administer its right to self-determination according to international law.
"The military and colonial occupation of Morocco is an obstacle to compliance with the repeated resolutions of the UN Security Council calling for the holding of a referendum on self-determination," they said, adding that "the exploitation of natural resources by the Moroccan occupying force has been repeatedly rejected by the EU Court of Justice, which has affirmed that these resources belong to the Saharawi people.
The signatories of the letter said, moreover, that the only possible solution to the conflict in Western Sahara is through international law and the decolonization of this territory through a referendum of self-determination, as dictated by the various UN resolutions.
"Like the UN, we consider the Polisario Front as the only legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and we defend its right to self-determination, (and demand) the monitoring of human rights by the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and the release of Sahrawi political prisoners," they said.
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