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Macron’s new position on Western Sahara “disregards” the legitimate rights of the Sahrawi people

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Paris – In an article published on the French “Media Part” website, researchers considered the new position of French President Emmanuel Macron on Western Sahara a “major turning point” in Paris’s position on settling the conflict in Western Sahara, noting that it constitutes a disregard for the legitimate rights of the people of Western Sahara to Self-determination stipulated in the United Nations charters and all decisions of regional and international courts.

A team including five specialists from the French National Center for Research and researchers in social sciences said, in a contribution published on the “Media Part” website, today, Thursday, under the title “Western Sahara: a risky presidential colonial gamble,” that the message sent by French President Emmanuel Macron to… On July 30, the Moroccan King represented a “major turning point” in the official French position on Western Sahara, as many researchers see it as clear support for the “colonial approach” and a position that would “harm the partnership that links Paris with many African countries” that support the right of the Sahrawi people. On self-determination and independence.

The editorial team considered that the official French alignment with Moroccan positions regarding the issue of the conflict in Western Sahara constitutes “a disdain for the legitimate rights of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, and also coincides with the defeat suffered by the French president at the ballot boxes during (the European and legislative elections), and at a time when “The new government is supposed to manage the country’s internal affairs only.”

The editorial team stated that in 2018, through an open letter addressed directly to Emmanuel Macron, it alerted to the grave responsibility that France bears in not ending colonialism in Western Sahara and then tried, despite the censorship imposed on this issue, to inform French public opinion “of the collapse of principles.” France’s moral duty because of its support for the occupation of the last colony in Africa.

Today, the editorial team says, “The French President took the step and officially ignored the opinion of the International Court of Justice of 1975 and all the court decisions on the subject (including the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the European Court of Justice), as well as the United Nations resolutions, which recognize the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.” “He has thus officially declared his position in support of colonialism.”

Therefore, the article adds, “The person who “despise the Republic” turns into an “international delinquent” who commits France to nothing more than “an adventure not devoid of anachronistic anachronism,” asking, “Does he believe, even for a single moment, that this decision is likely to reassure African countries? And in the twenty-first century?

Here, the editors of the article stated that at the time when the French President announced his position on Western Sahara, the majority of African countries recognize Western Sahara and the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, led by South Africa (the first power on the continent) and Nigeria (the fourth power) in the region and the majority African countries, including Mauritania, recently invited Sahrawi President Ibrahim Ghali to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Sheikh Ghazouani for a new term.

The author of the article warned that this position would harm the renewal of partnerships with African countries, recalling that “indeed, Algeria has announced the immediate withdrawal of its ambassador to France, and it is very likely that these measures will not come from Algeria alone,” highlighting that “no Mauritania or South Africa and even Nigeria are not concerned with the status of the last colony in Africa or with the role played by France in obstructing the process of decolonization in Western Sahara.”

The article considered that “by formally committing France to this colonial adventure, Emmanuel Macron not only ignores international law, but it is an adventure and a risky bet for France.”

APS

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