New York (United Nations) — The European States have finally and clearly recognized that Morocco was not sovereign over the Western Sahara territory in accordance with "extension" agreements sealed in early 2019 between the European Union (EU), said Lawyer of the Polisario Front, Gilles Devers.

In a statement to APS on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN Fourth Committee on Decolonization, the Polisario Front's lawyer before the European authorities said that "the European states have changed their views and have finally and clearly acknowledged that Morocco is not sovereign over the territory of Western Sahara," in the decisions taken in January and March 2019 by the EU Council based on the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The ECJ decision states that Morocco and Western Sahara are two distinct and separate territories, and the dispute is governed by international law. Morocco has no sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara.

Following this court decision, "the Polisario Front contacted the European leaders to say that it was willing to negotiate an agreement that would allow the development of the territory as a whole. The European leaders refused this suggestion," said Devers.

While maintaining their support for the Moroccan occupier, the European leaders have engaged in a two-year phase of negotiations between the EU and Morocco, in which the Polisario Front was completely excluded. Finally, they reached two "extension" agreements in Western Sahara, namely the Association Agreement on 28 January 2019, and the Fisheries Agreement on 4 March 2019, recalled the lawyer.