Europe showers the hopes of the Polisario separatists. The European Union affirmed, on Thursday, to support a just, realistic and lasting, mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara issue, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, in particular resolution 2602, while taking positive note of the serious and credible efforts made by Morocco to resolve this dispute.
”As the High Representative of the EU/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, has constantly repeated (…), the position of the EU is clear and consists in strongly supporting the efforts of the Secretary-General of the to reach a just, realistic and lasting, mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara issue, on the basis of a compromise and in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, in particular resolution 2602 of October 29 2021”, said the spokesperson for the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Nabila Massrali.
Reacting to recent statements by the head of European diplomacy to Spanish media, the spokesperson told MAP that the EU’s position was detailed in the Joint Political Declaration between the EU and Morocco of June 2019, which had taken positive note of the serious and credible efforts made by Morocco as reflected in resolution 2602
”The EU therefore remains firmly committed to supporting the work of the Personal Representative of the Secretary General, Staffan de Mistura, and encourages all parties to engage with him for the resumption of the political process,” she said. added, emphasizing the “importance of preserving the stability of the region through more dialogue and a constructive approach”.
UN Security Council Resolution 2602, it is recalled, confirms the “continuum” of the round table process – with its modalities and with its four participants – Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario – as the “one and only” framework for the settlement of the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
In this perspective and by reiterating in its 18th consecutive resolution the pre-eminence, seriousness and credibility of the Moroccan autonomy initiative, the Security Council confirmed that autonomy remains and will be the ultimate and final solution to this dispute. regional.
The reaction of the spokesperson is a second blow from Europe to the Polisario in less than 24 hours. Yesterday Wednesday, Josep Borrell said in an interview with EFE that the EU supports the political path and consensus in the Moroccan Sahara issue. “We Europeans stand for a consensual solution between the parties, by mutual agreement, achieved within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, and anyone who wants to know more should read the United Nations resolutions,” he told the press. Spanish agency.
“As to the method and procedure for reaching the settlement of this conflict, we do not express a preference, because it is the parties who must decide how to do it. This is the position of the European Union as it appears in the joint declaration with Morocco of 2019”, affirmed the head of EU diplomacy.
The High Representative of the EU/Vice-President of the European Commission also mentioned the support of her country, Spain, for the Moroccan position in the matter. “It is important to explain and clarify that the position of the Spanish government is not contradictory, it is not incompatible with that of the European Union on the question of the Sahara and is perfectly in line with the common position of the European Union”, he pointed out to EFE.
Josep Borrell has just performed a back-pedalling as fast as it is extreme. Less than 24 hours earlier, on Tuesday, he had declared to another Spanish media, the public channel TVE, that the “EU has come out in favor of the organization of a consultation so that it is the Saharawi people who decide of its future”, adding that “the Spanish government also defends the same position”. Words relayed by the Polisario and its supporters in Algeria, which only lasted a few hours in the end.
