Chahid El Hafed (Sahrawi Republic) 22 January 2025 (SPS)— The Sahrawi Natural Resources Watch (OSRN in its Spanish abbreviation) welcomed the European Commission’s confirmation that the Euro-Mediterranean aviation agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco does not extend to Western Sahara. This announcement, was delivered by the EUC in written answer to a parliamentary query from MEP Lynn Boylan (The Left), further underscoring the region's distinct legal status under international law.
The clarification centers on routes to Dakhla (also known as Dajla), a city in Western Sahara currently under Moroccan illegal occupation.
The European Commission reaffirmed that, consistent with rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Western Sahara is not part of Morocco’s recognized sovereignty. Consequently, the aviation agreement cannot include routes between EU Member States and the territory.
The Commission’s position was formally communicated during the Consultative Forum on EU External Aviation Policy on 3 December 2024, to ensure European airlines are aware of the legal framework. This position aligns with the CJEU’s longstanding interpretation that Western Sahara has a distinct legal status, with its people holding an inalienable right to self-determination.
In light of this clarification, OSRN has called on Ryanair and other airlines operating flights between EU Member States and Western Sahara to immediately cease these services. The organization argues that such flights encourage Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara, violating principles of international and European law.
OSRN also directed criticism toward Spain, urging the country to fulfill its historical and legal obligations toward Western Sahara, specifically ensuring that its management of Western Sahara’s airspace respects Sahrawi sovereignty and avoids legitimizing the occupation.
“We call on the European Commission to actively enforce its position, ensuring airlines and other stakeholders comply with international and EU law,” OSRN stated.
The European Commission’s reiteration of the legal boundaries of the EU-Morocco aviation agreement marks another step in reinforcing the Sahrawi people's distinct status as an independent territory over which Morocco has no sovereignty. However, OSRN emphasized the need for continued vigilance to prevent violations of this principle and uphold the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
Western Sahara is a very rich country in various natural resources. It has been the subject of a decades-long illegal military occupation by Morocco, opposed by the Sahrawi people legitimate resistance under the leadership of the Polisario Front.
The territory has been recognized by the United Nations as non-self-governing, with repeated calls for a referendum on self-determination. The African Union further recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the legitimate political authority representing the people of this North African country since 1982 rejecting thus the Moroccan colonial claims. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
