Strasbourg validates inclusion of Sahara in EU / Morocco agreement

The European Parliament gave its green light on Wednesday to amend the trade agreement between the European Union and Morocco to include the southern part of Western Sahara, administered by Morocco without being under its sovereignty from the point of view international law.

Former Spanish colony, Western Sahara is claimed since 1976 by Morocco, which occupies five-sixths, and by the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by the Polisario Front on the rest of the territory.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, seized by the Polisario Front, estimated in December 2016 that the EU-Morocco agreement of 2013 could not apply to Western Sahara unless representatives of its inhabitants consent and the territory is explicitly mentioned in the text of the agreement.

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