The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sees little chance for a rapid resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. At the start of the two-day talks between the government of Morocco and the Polisario liberation movement, the STP called for Europe to put more pressure on the Moroccan government to finally implement the UN's peace plan of 1991 for Western Sahara. Previous talks broke down due to Morocco's hostile stance. "Morocco is able to maintain its policy of blockading because Europe has failed to present a united front," criticized Ulrich Delius, head of the Africa section at the STP, on Monday in Göttingen.

"While the European Union officially supports the UN peace plan, France and Spain support Morocco's position and thus are undermining the EU's policy of working toward a fair solution in the Western Sahara question. This ambiguous message from Europe shows how far the EU still has to go in creating a uniform foreign policy."

At the invitation of the United Nations, talks between the two parties to the conflict are being held November 8 and 9, 2010, near New York, and will include representatives of neighboring Algeria and Mauritania as well. The informal talks are intended to clarify whether the two sides can agree to start new peace negotiations. As recently as November 3rd, Morocco's foreign minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri rejected the referendum on the future of the Western Sahara, although it is stipulated in the UN peace plan. The point of contention was the question of who would be allowed to vote. According to the UN plan, only the original inhabitants of Western Sahara, who fled following the occupation by Morocco, would participate, while Morocco wants to include the current residents, whose immigration was subsidized by the their state. Previous talks held in New York in February 2010 and in Vienna in August 2009 ended without any progress being made.

Morocco, which occupied the former Spanish colony in 1975 in violation of international law, favors autonomy for Western Sahara within the Kingdom of Morocco. Rabat is supported in this by France and Spain. In April 2009, for example, in the UN Security Council, Paris prevented an extension of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to protect human rights. France has been expanding its economic ties to Morocco considerably in recent years. Direct investments from France in Morocco have tripled since 2004 and, at 8.1 billion euros, are higher than their investments in China. French companies did not invest as heavily in any other country in 2008. Some 750 French firms have subsidiaries in the Moroccan kingdom. In 2009, the trade volume between the two nations came to six billion euros.

Neither did Spain, another former colonial power in the region, promote the right of self determination for Sahrawis in the Western Sahara, because Spain is dependent on a good political relationship with Morocco. The uncertain future of the Ceuta and Melilla colonies in Morocco and the possible opening of the border to African refugees make Spain vulnerable to threats. "It can also be seen as a provocation that Morocco is sending a renegade from the Polisario as their new ambassador to Madrid, to suppress any potential criticism from Spain," notes Delius.

For further information, please contact Ulrich Delius (0049-(0)551-49906-27).

Translated by Elizabeth Crawford