Brussels (Belgium), December 10, 2025 (SPS) – Members of the Sahrawi diaspora in Europe, alongside European associations and solidarity groups, organized a large demonstration on Wednesday in front of the European Parliament in Brussels.
The protest denounced what participants described as “the decisive and negative role of the European Union in the illegal exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources,” coinciding with the celebration of the International Human Rights Day.
Protesters raised Sahrawi flags and banners condemning the signing of a new trade agreement between the European Union and Morocco, which they described as “illegal” because it includes the territory of Western Sahara without the consent of its people.
In their final communiqué, participants stressed that the agreement was concluded in complete disregard of the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled on October 4, 2024, that “any agreement covering Western Sahara must be based on the consent of the people of the territory, as they are the sovereign authority.”
The statement added that the European Commission “deliberately bypassed these rulings” through secret negotiations with Morocco, conducted “without transparency, behind the back of the European Parliament, European citizens, and above all, behind the back of the Sahrawi people.”
It also noted that the Commission chose, “without any legal justification,” to provisionally apply the agreement, forcing the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, to once again resort to European courts “to protect the inalienable rights of the Sahrawi people.”
The communiqué affirmed that “the illegal plunder carried out by Morocco, with the necessary collaboration of the European Union, is at the root of serious human rights violations in Western Sahara,” such as demographic engineering, employment discrimination, and cultural erasure. It stressed that this plunder constitutes a direct obstacle to “the Sahrawi people’s non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence.”
Protesters further accused the European Union of going “even further in financing the occupation through infrastructure projects that serve only to entrench it.” The statement warned that such actions “complicate the resolution of the conflict and clearly make the European Union complicit with the Moroccan occupation regime.”
Beyond the political and legal aspects, the statement warned that the agreement would also “cause severe damage to the European agricultural sector,” emphasizing that “competition is no longer merely unfair—it has now become impossible.”
The Sahrawi community concluded its statement by reaffirming the Sahrawi people’s continued resistance against the occupation “in the occupied territories, in the refugee camps, and everywhere in the world,” calling on the European Union to adopt a foreign policy consistent with human rights principles and international law, instead of allowing economic interests to override them.
“The economic development of Western Sahara is possible and desirable, but it can only take place with the consent of its people. The sovereignty of this territory is non-negotiable, and no international agreement can change this reality or deny the existence of the Sahrawi people and their rights.” (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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