France Reaffirms Polisario will not Take Part in EU-Africa Summit

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pointed out that only sovereign states are entitled to participate in the EU-Africa Summit, to be held in Abidjan, thus making it clear that France rejects categorically the attempts by separatist proponents to impose the participation of the separatist SADR entity.

The Minister said Monday in Rabat at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, that the polisario is not eligible to represent the Sahara and has no right to partake in such a sovereign summit open only to UN member states.

Le Drian reiterated on the same occasion his country’s firm stand in support of Morocco’s autonomy proposal as a sound basis for negotiations.

He added that the UN Secretary General is called upon to take initiatives on the basis of the autonomy proposal.
“We hope that the EU-Africa summit will take place in best conditions. The choice of participating countries should be taken by consensus between sovereign states,” he added.

For his part, Bourita noted that Morocco insists on maintaining the summit will take place at a special continental context requiring collective efforts. Therefore, he warned against derailing the summit and indulging in unnecessary debates.

As it endures setbacks one after the other in its ideologically anachronistic foreign policy, Algeria indulges in terminology games claiming that the African Union and the EU are in negotiation to change the appellation of the event into EU-AU Summit in a scheme to impose the participation of its puppet Sahrawi Republic.

The fake news was propagated by the Algerian government mouthpiece, Algeria Press Service news agency, which relayed the fallacious statements of its Ambassador in Brussels, Amar Belani, saying that the Polisario will receive an invitation to attend the EU-Africa summit.

Such statements show the short memory of the Algerian diplomacy, which seems not to learn from past mistakes. Sources within the EU maintain that only countries that are member of the UN are entitled to take part in the EU-Africa summit. No decision has been made to change the name of the event that will be hosted by Abidjan on November 29-30.