Strasbourg, Dec 10, 2013 (SPS) - Polisario Front declared that the approval of the new Protocol to the EU- Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) “will signal support for Morocco’s illegal claims” on Western Sahara, adding that it is “contrary to the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people and to the relevant principles of international law applicable to Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.”
In a statement issued today following the approval of this agreement by the European Parliament, Saharawi Minister Delegate for Europe Mr. Mohamed Sidati said that such move “will further destabilise an already volatile situation in the region, thereby undermining the UN efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict.
He also added that it “will also give a sign of legitimisation to the Moroccan occupation of the Territory, thus contributing to prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.”
Mr. Sidati underlined that the Saharawi government and the POLISARIO Front “will explore all possible avenues to overturn this iniquitous agreement, and reserve the right to claim compensation for the Saharawi people, who have been robbed of their riches.”
The statement called on the European Union to reconsider this agreement, so contrary to its founding principles, urging the EU, instead, to join forces with the UN to complete the process of decolonization in Western Sahara.
The EU must contribute to the end of this state of affairs, which endangers peace and security in the region, and is utterly detrimental to Euro-Maghreb relations.
It should be recalled that the European Parliament voted today by 300 to 206, with 49 abstentions and 130 absents, to approve the new Protocol to the EU- Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) which will allow the EU fishing vessels to fish illegally offshore Western Sahara. (SPS)
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