Spanish FM reiterates Spain’s support for a political, Just solution to Sahara issue

Just a couple of days after she reiterated Spain’s official, clear, and unwavering standpoint on the Sahara issue which is based on full support for the UN process, the Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya affirmed again that Madrid advocates a “political and just” solution to the Sahara issue on the basis of UN parameters.

 

“We defend the search for a political and just solution which meets all the parameters laid down in the resolutions of the United Nations”, underlined Gonzalez Laya in an interview with the newspaper ABC, issued on Sunday.

Referring to the Moroccan Royal Army’s intervention in the Guerguarat crossing point to clear the road from Polisario bandits who were blocking traffic between Morocco and Mauritania, the top Spanish diplomat emphasized the importance of respecting the ceasefire.

She also called for the appointment of a new personal envoy of the UN Secretary General so that he “can provide a negotiated channel” for a solution to the Sahara issue.

With regard to Spain’s relationship with the parties concerned by this issue, Gonzalez Laya noted that her contacts with her “Moroccan, Mauritanian and Algerian counterparts are permanent. They are part of a cycle of very fluid, weekly contacts.”

Regarding the tweet of Pablo Iglesias, Secretary General of the Podemos party, which is participating in the Spanish coalition government, and in which he voiced support for the Polisario theses, Arancha Gonzalez Laya reiterated that Spain’s official position on this issue is set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

The Podemos leader’s blunder had also triggered a response from the Spanish Defense Minister who made it clear that any statement by a Government Member that is not in Line with Spanish official position is simply a “personal opinion”.

Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, said Spain’s official position on the Sahara issue is decided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Presidency of the Government. Any other statement on this issue is only the “personal opinion” of its author.

“The foreign policy of a government is defined by its president and its Minister of Foreign Affairs. This must be very clear,” Margarita Robles.

“Any member of the government can have his own opinions, but the government is a collegial body and must be at the forefront of the positions taken,” she insisted.

“Being part of a government also requires responsibility,” said Robles, making it clear that differences must be settled within the governing coalition and that once decisions are made, all members of the executive must be “united” and defend these decisions.