EU Presidency Statement - Question of Western Sahara

Statement by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on behalf of the Member States of the European Union on the Question of Western Sahara, Fourth Committee, New York

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries, Bulgaria and Romania, and the Candidate Countries, Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries, members of the EEA, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Ukraine and Moldova align themselves with this statement.

The European Union welcomes the fact that the resolution on the Question of Western Sahara has been presented this year as a proposal of the Chairman, and that it has been adopted by consensus.

The European Union supports efforts to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will allow for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, as envisaged by the Security Council. The European Union continues to encourage the parties to work towards such a solution, within the framework of the United Nations. We continue to encourage the parties to work with the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, Mr Peter Van Walsum, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of MINURSO, Mr. Francesco Bastagli, whose appointments we welcome. In this regard the European Union pays tribute to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and to the role they play in the peace process.

The European Union remains concerned about the humanitarian aspects of the Western Sahara conflict. The Presidency welcomed the release, in August of this year, of 404 Moroccan prisoners of war by the Polisario Front and urged all parties to take concrete measures within their area of responsibility to resolve the remaining humanitarian issues linked to the conflict. In particular the European Union calls on both parties to continue to cooperate with the efforts of the ICRC to solve the problem of the fate of all those unaccounted for since the beginning of the conflict.

The European Union also encourages both parties to collaborate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the implementation of confidence building measures. The European Union is convinced that progress on these issues could help to improve the atmosphere for the political process.


* Croatia remains a member of the Stabilisation and Association Process

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• EU Presidency Statement - United Nations 4th Committee: Western Sahara (21/10/2008)
• EU Parliament - Human Rights resolutions: Western Sahara, Uzbekistan and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche (27/10/2005)
• EU Presidency Statement - Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples - Western Sahara (18/10/2004)