Growing International Support for the Sahrawi People's Right to Self-Determination

A series of events across Europe has focused on the Sahrawi cause, emphasizing the legal necessity of completing the decolonization process. In Villena, Spain, stakeholders highlighted Spain's historical responsibilities and condemned the ongoing exploitation of natural resources in the occupied territories. Meanwhile, at a youth forum in Leipzig, Germany, legal experts reiterated the European Court of Justice's rulings regarding the separate status of the Western Sahara and demanded accountability for human rights violations and mass graves. In France, the Mayor of Vitry-sur-Seine, Pierre Bell-Lloch, officially called on the government to reject the current U.S. draft resolution on the territory. He warned that any move to dilute the MINURSO mandate and bypass a self-determination referendum undermines the UN peace process and prioritizes geopolitical interests over the fundamental rights of the Sahrawi people.