BE asks the Portuguese Government for consistency in adopting “attitudes that favor the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, as it did with Timor or Ukraine, claiming a strong position in this defense in the European context.
A delegation from BE, made up of the party’s coordinator, Catarina Martins, the founder Luís Fazenda and the former deputy and leader José Manuel Pureza, met this week with the new representative of the Polisário Front in Portugal, Omar Mih.
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Speaking to the Lusa agency about this meeting requested by the Polisário Front, José Manuel Pureza began by expressing the party’s solidarity with the people of Western Sahara, especially at a time when “there are changes in the positions adopted” by Spain, which expressed “a position of convergence with the theses of Morocco on Western Sahara”.
It is especially important that international solidarity be manifested and that the Governments of our countries, in this case the Government of Lisbon, exert all the pressure so that our Government is consistent, in the case of Western Sahara, with what its discourse is. , which is positive in favor of the self-determination of peoples”, he appealed.
In the opinion of the bloc’s leader, the Portuguese Government has “expressed its very strong position in terms of defending the self-determination of the people of Ukraine”, a position with which BE agrees and supports.
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But you must consistently adopt attitudes that favor the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara and other peoples of the world who are struggling for their self-determination“, he challenged, recalling the “very brave” position of Portugal in relation to Timor-Leste.
Calling for a “stronger position by Portugal” on this matter in the context of the European Union, Purity said that the process of holding the referendum under the auspices of the United Nations is a process with decades of expectation and “always boycotted by Morocco”.
Now that it has finally been possible, which has not been for a long time, to appoint a new representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Western Sahara process, Portugal must do everything in its power to ensure that his mandate ends . with the launch of the referendum, which is the act of self-determination that is still pending thanks to the obstacles that Morocco has always put up”, he defended.
In June, the Government of Spain reiterated that Morocco’s proposal is the best basis for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, but stressed that the solution must be recognized by the United Nations and accepted by both parties.
Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony occupied by Morocco for 47 yearsin the context of a decolonization process.
Spain has long argued that Morocco’s control over Western Sahara was an occupation and that the holding a referendum sponsored by the UN should be the way to decide on the decolonization of the territory.
Sánchez defended that the new position of the Spanish Government in relation to Western Sahara is in line with that of other European countries, such as France, Germany or the Netherlands, and with that of the United States.
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In mid-July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, invited the UN envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to a meeting in Portugal to discuss the “pacification” process in that area of North Africa. .
“What we want to emphasize is our support for the process that the United Nations is developing and we believe that at the end of these decades we must seek to reach an understanding,” he later stressed, then told Lusa that Staffan de Mistura would visit “Portugal soon,” probably “after the summer holidays”.
Source: Observadora
