Polisario Front Condemns Spain-Morocco Talks on Sahara Airspace Control

The Polisario accuses the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, of acting "with premeditation, behind the backs of the chambers and Spanish civil society" to advance their "false" policy for Western Sahara, said Abdulah Arabi, delegate of the Polisario Front in Spain, in an interview with Europa Press.

"This fact demonstrates the desperation of the Spanish government in the face of the lack of significant results brought by the ’new stage’ of relations with Morocco. The government has lost all possibility of initiative, it is Morocco that manages the pace, sets and determines the pace of relations between the two countries," denounced Arabi, considering this initiative of Spain "extremely worrying".

Arabi recalled that according to a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in February 2018, Rabat does not have sovereignty over the maritime and airspace of the Sahara and that consequently, the management of the airspace of the Sahara "reverts to the Sahrawi people" and to Spain which remains the "administering power of this territory until the decolonization process [...] is completed".

The Polisario’s reaction follows the response of the Moncloa to a parliamentary question, admitting that negotiations have already begun with Morocco "in this area", in accordance with point 7 of the joint declaration of April 2022, marking the beginning of a new stage in the relationship between Morocco and Spain, after more than a year of diplomatic crisis.