In supporting Morocco, the European Union is denying Africans in Western Sahara their right to self-determination, according to Mick Wallace, Irish Member of the European Parliament.
In this clip recently posted on his X account, Wallace ripped into the EU’s support for Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara. The EU has been providing aid to Morocco, while Western Sahara sued the EU in 2023 for not including the territory’s representatives in negotiations over a multi-million euro fisheries deal off part of its 1,110-kilometre coast, which contains plentiful fish and offshore oil and gas resources.
Through occupation, Morocco also controls about 70 per cent of the world’s phosphate deposits, required for fertiliser production. Western renewable energy companies, such as Siemens and Enel, and the Moroccan king’s energy company, Nareva, already operate wind farms there.
So far, a UN-mandated referendum to determine the disputed territory’s future has yet to take place.
Please let us know what you make of Wallace’s comments.