Polisario fails to relaunch its friendship group within the European Parliament

At the European Parliament, the new 2024-2029 legislature officially commenced on July 16. However, the Polisario Front has yet to establish its customary friendship group within the European assembly.

The Front blames the PSOE, led by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, for hindering the renewal of this entity. «The creation of this group requires the backing of three groups of MEPs. The Greens and La Gauche have already given their approval, but the Social Democrat bloc has withdrawn its support, dooming the initiative to failure for the first time», an Iberian media outlet reveals.

The Polisario support group «has existed in the European Parliament for over 20 years (...) The socialist group, which, due to the fact that the majority of its members belong to the PSOE, did not support the creation of this intergroup», lamented the Front's representative to the European Union, Omar Mansur.

However, the Spanish socialists offer a different perspective. «PSOE sources have categorically denied exerting pressure against the creation of this intergroup», reports EFE. «A large part of the Spanish delegation within the Social Democrat group voted in favor of the group's creation. Each MEP is free to choose his or her vote, and the sensitivities of Spanish MEPs are different from those of other countries», these sources explain.

While awaiting the revival of this framework, the Polisario organized a conference on December 9 and 10 at the European Parliament’s headquarters, focusing on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rulings from October 4. These rulings excluded Western Sahara from the fisheries and agricultural agreements concluded in 2019 between Morocco and the EU. The event was attended by Spanish and Portuguese MEPs.