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Rabat – The European Union has renewed its stance, emphasizing that it does not recognize the Polisario’s self-proclaimed SADR.
EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs reiterated the body’s statement today in a press briefing in response to reports suggesting the EU has invited Polisario to the upcoming EU-AU Summit that will take place from November 24-27 in Angola.
Moroccan news agency MAP quoted the EU spokesperson, who emphasized that the EU-AU summits and ministerial meetings are co-chaired and co-organized by the EU and the AU, noting that each side is responsible for inviting its own members.
The spokesperson clarified that invitations to African members are issued by the AU, stressing that neither the European Union nor any of its member states recognizes the SADR.
Earlier this year, in June, the EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs made a similar statement, crushing the separatist group’s ambition.
The remarks came in response to Spain’s continuous attempts to exploit its attendance in AU settings, where EU officials also attend.
It repeated the same attempt during their marginal presence at the EU-AU ministerial meeting in Rome on June 27.
Like in June, pro-Polisario media have recently been celebrating Polisario’s invitation to participate in the event.
Spanish news outlets, including Publico, reported that Ghali was invited by Angolan President Joao Lourenco to participate in the event. Sources also alleged that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “will meet in Angola with Brahim Ghali” during the event, for the first time since Spain’s decision to endorse Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible political solution to end the dispute.
Read also: EU Says It Again: Neither EU Nor Members Recognize Self-styled SADR
However, the report refers to the meeting only in the sense that Sanchz will be present at the same event. This means that it is not confirmed whether he will meet him in person, unless Spain is prepared for another episode of tensions with Rabat.
In April 2021, Morocco strongly opposed Spain’s unilateral decision to host the Polisario leader for hospitalization.
Ghali traveled to Spain under the fake name of Mohammed Ben Battouch to avoid arrest. He has been wanted in Spain for war crimes, terrorism, and kidnapping lawsuits filed by Spanish families and Sahrawis who were subject to torture in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps run by the Algerian regime.
Sanchez’s government, however, did not bother to notify Morocco, one of its main trade partners, about its arrangement with Algeria on Ghali’s travel plan.
Former Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya only decided to make the news public in April 2021, dismissing Morocco’s concerns and stating that Ghali was transferred to Spain for “purely humanitarian reasons in order to receive health care.”
Rabat responded strongly to the decision by recalling its ambassador and summoning Madrid’s ambassador in Rabat for consultation.
Morocco declared the hospitalization of Gahli as being against the “spirit of partnership and good neighborliness and which concerns a fundamental use of the Moroccan people and its vital forces.”
In 2022, ties between the two countries restored normalcy when Spain decided to officially endorse Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible political solution to end the dispute.
