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Leaders from the Spanish party Podemos, known for their support of the Polisario Front, have called on the European Union to take action against Morocco after being prevented from entering the city of Laayoune last week.
The party's spokesperson, Isabel Serra Sánchez, along with European Parliament members Catarina Martins from Portugal and Jussi Saramo from Finland, sent official letters to the President of the European Council, António Costa; the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola; and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas. In the letters, they requested meetings to discuss what they referred to as their «detention» at Laayoune airport.
The party accused Moroccan authorities of illegally preventing the parliamentarians from disembarking during their attempt to carry out a «monitoring mission» to assess Morocco's compliance with the recent European Court of Justice ruling, which annulled the agriculture and fisheries agreements between the European Union and Morocco. The letters confirmed that Moroccan authorities forced them to return to Spain via Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
The MEPs demanded that the European Union take action in response to what they considered a «violation» of their rights as members of the European Parliament and a «breach of international law». They also pointed out that their visit included a meeting with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and discussions with local associations accusing Morocco of «plundering natural resources» in the region.
It is worth noting that the MEPs' visit was conducted without an official mandate from the European Parliament or prior coordination with Moroccan authorities and was not part of any mission recognized by the relevant European institutions.
