Polisario regrets that Spain has ignored international law in its turnaround on Western Sahara

The Polisario Front has responded to the recent thanks of the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, to the support of Spain for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, with a criticism of the Spanish government for “ignoring and disregarding what is established by international law” in this regard.

Mohamed VI thanked on Saturday the “clear and responsible” position of Spain in relation to the “Moroccanness” of Western Sahara following the backing expressed in March by the Spanish government to the Moroccan autonomy plan in the face of the ambitions of the Sahrawi independence movement of the Polisario Front.

In response, the Polisario reiterates in a statement published Sunday that Western Sahara remains a territory “pending decolonization” and, therefore, “Spain remains the administering power of the last colony of Africa.”

After recalling that the UN General Assembly qualified in 1979 as “occupation” the presence of Morocco in Western Sahara, the Polisario regrets that Spain “has chosen to ignore and flout the provisions of international law and international legality”.

“Spain must assume the clarity and forcefulness of international law on the question of Western Sahara”, Polisario asks, before indicating that “no country in the world can modify the legal nature of Western Sahara as long as the Saharawi people do not pronounce themselves through a referendum of self-determination”.

“Any position contrary to international law, far from speeding up the resolution of the question of Western Sahara, complicates it even more and removes any possibility of peace and stability in a region of vital importance for Europe and Spain”, the Front concludes.