Stockholm, 4 January 2021 (SPS) - The Green Party in Sweden on Sunday called on the Swedish government to recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and criticized the European Union's "weak position" on the conflict in Western Sahara, media reported.
"The Green Party wants Sweden to recognize Western Sahara as a state. Swedish recognition will send an important and clear signal to the international community and to the liberation movements who believe in peace and democratic development in the region," underlined the official spokesperson of the Swedish Greens party for foreign policy affairs, Ms. Janine Alm Eriksson, in a joint article with the official youth spokesperson of the Green party Aida Badili, published on December 29 in the newspaper "Goteborg-Posten".
The two officials strongly criticized the obstacles erected by outgoing US President Donald Trump to peace efforts in Western Sahara, through his "irresponsible and illegitimate" recognition of Morocco's alleged sovereignty over the occupied territory.
"The fact that the outgoing US president is now using his last days in power to end an already deadlocked peace process is extremely unacceptable and irresponsible, but it is also a position which shows that it is the duty of the international community to act to resolve the conflict ", wrote the two leaders of the Green Party in their article.
For these two spokespersons, Trump's announcement made on December 10 relating to the Saharawi question, "threatens human lives and constitutes an irresponsible position for the American president, because it can cause serious damage and prolong decades of conflict and of occupation ... ".
The two officials believe, in the same context, that the logical solution to the conflict is "Morocco's withdrawal from Western Sahara and the end of the conflict through international recognition of the SADR".
Referring to recent events in the buffer zone in El Guerguerat, south-western Western Sahara, following the Moroccan aggression on 13 November against Sahrawi civilians, Ms Badili and Eriksson deplored the fact that the 30-year ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front that was to lead to the independence of Western Sahara "was violated when the occupier attacked (peaceful) demonstrators" in the region.
She continued: "Morocco's actions constitute a serious violation of the cease-fire agreement", before adding: "by this behavior, the security and stability of the region are in danger and it becomes necessary to shed light on a long-term solution that would restore the right of the Sahrawis to their homeland ".
The two leaders of the Swedish Green party criticized the European Union's "weak position" with regard to the conflict in Western Sahara, occupied since 1975, stressing that "it is time for the international community and the United Nations" to intervene to allow the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination and independence in a referendum ".
"The occupation must end, the people of Western Sahara have the right to freedom and self-determination, and the international community has a duty to intervene - not to hinder the process," they concluded. (SPS)
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