EU Says Position on Western Sahara Unchanged

EU flags flutter in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
EU flags flutter in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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EU Says Position on Western Sahara Unchanged

EU flags flutter in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
EU flags flutter in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

The European Union reiterated Wednesday that its position remains unchanged regarding the status of Western Sahara, saying none of the EU states recognizes the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) announced by the Polisario front in 1976.

Responding to a question about whether an invitation could be extended to the separatists to take part in the European Union-African Union summit, which opens Thursday in Brussels, the EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano, stated that the EU did not invite the Polisario.

The EU is co-organizing the summit with the AU, and each organization is responsible for inviting its members. It is therefore the African Union that has taken responsibility for inviting its members.

The EU could not interfere in the AU’s decisions with regard to its members.

Stano said that the AU gesture “does not change the position of the European Union.”

He further reiterated that none of the EU’s 27 members recognizes the SADR or its leadership’s goal for a breakaway state in Western Sahara.

Europe’s position was previously stated in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast, in 2017. At the time, Brussels said it does not recognize the legitimacy of the SADR claims to Moroccan regions in Western Sahara.

More than 850 Sahrawi NGOs active in the area of human rights and sustainable development have strongly rejected the participation of the military leader of Polisario in the summit.

In a letter sent to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the NGOs expressed their astonishment and their rejection of the participation in the EU-AU summit “of a man and an organization responsible for serious violations of human rights and misappropriation of European aid."

"For us, it is incomprehensible and highly condemnable", said the 852 NGOs that signed the petition sent to the three senior European officials.



Israel Declares 'New Phase' of War, Netanyahu Promises to Return Citizens of the North

FILED - 02 September 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO/dpa
FILED - 02 September 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO/dpa
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Israel Declares 'New Phase' of War, Netanyahu Promises to Return Citizens of the North

FILED - 02 September 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO/dpa
FILED - 02 September 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference. Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO/dpa

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that Israel was “at the start of a new phase in the war” amid rising tension with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” Gallant told Israeli troops.

He made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”

Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the cross-border exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border.

Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, “the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the country's army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah.

Israel will ensure that tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas will be able to go back home, Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

"I have said it before, we will return the citizens of the north to their homes in security and that's exactly what we are going to do," he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details.

Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter said the army had moved its 98th Division, which includes commando and paratrooper formations, from Gaza to the north.