MEPs urge EU to address France's Sahara recognition

France's recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara continues to irritate Polisario supporters in Spain. This is evidenced by a letter signed by ten Spanish MEPs and addressed on Wednesday, September 11, to the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, according to the letter's author, European parliamentarian Ana Miranda of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG).

Miranda's initiative has been supported by representatives of Sumar, Podemos, Bildu, the Catalan Republican Left, and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). They are urging Borrell to rule on the «serious diplomatic affront» by President Emmanuel Macron, considering that «any unilateral position of support for one of the parties risks leading the region to a confrontation that would put the region in even greater danger».

Spanish MEPs argue that Emmanuel Macron's position «totally in favor of Morocco demonstrates a lack of respect for international law, the agreements on Western Sahara, and a lack of legitimacy (...) The Sahara does not belong to Morocco, as specified in the various United Nations resolutions».

MEPs express their conviction that the upcoming appeal verdict of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the legality of the agreements concluded between Morocco and the EU, including those related to the Sahara, «will surely prove the Polisario Front right».

The day after France's recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over of the Sahara, Josep Borrell said that the European Union's position on the question of the Sahara remained «unchanged». «It is the responsibility of each Member State to react according to its own positions», stressed the head of EU diplomacy.

MEP Ana Miranda is known for defending the Polisario's positions. In December 2023, she invited Josep Borrell to establish, within the European External Action Service (EEAS), a division exclusively responsible for the Sahara issue. This request was rejected by the head of European diplomacy.

In the middle of the debate on the resolution calling for the release of journalists detained in Morocco, in January 2023, she ignored the subject then on the agenda to address the Sahara issue. «By refusing to form committees of inquiry into torture and human rights violations committed by Morocco in the Sahara, the European Parliament is complicit with the Moroccan occupier», she denounced.