A clarification from the European Commission that might not sit well with Rabat: the air agreements signed between the Kingdom of Morocco and the European Union do not include Western Sahara, it reminds. This clarification comes at a time when Morocco is intensifying efforts to assert its sovereignty over this territory, still considered “to be decolonized” by the UN.
In Western Sahara, Morocco felt it could expand its wings. Brussels is now urging it to keep its feet on the ground. While major European airlines now serve Dakhla – the capital of Western Sahara – presenting it as a Moroccan city, the Commission in Brussels might disrupt these plans, according to Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a political scientist specializing in Western Sahara: “What this will change, because it can take effect immediately, is that airlines will go as far as an airport in Morocco, and then the transfer will be made by a Moroccan airline, making it much more complicated.”
This clarification is awkward, especially as some European countries openly support Morocco in the Western Sahara issue. This includes France, which recognized Moroccan sovereignty over this territory since last October, and Spain – the former occupying power – currently in negotiations with Rabat for the transfer of airspace management over this territory.
“The Court [of Justice of the European Union] considers that including Western Sahara in Morocco violates international law rules because the principle of self-determination, which is stated in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter, is not respected,” explains political scientist Khadija Mohsen-Finan.
At this point, the airlines involved have not responded.
