Paris (France), 28 November 2025 (SPS) – The 49th Conference of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People opened this Friday evening in one of the halls of the French National Assembly.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister, member of the National Secretariat, Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun; the President of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People, Mr. Pierre Galand; the President of the French Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi Republic and organizer of the conference, Ms. Régine Villemont; and French parliamentarian Jean-Paul Lecoq, along with distinguished members of the international solidarity movement.
The first speech was delivered by French MP Jean-Paul Lecoq, who welcomed the participating delegations. He expressed the honor of the French Assembly to host this conference, as it is the legislative body representing the French people—whose government, he noted, has from the beginning supported and legitimized the Moroccan occupation, protected the occupier, and encouraged systematic human rights violations and the plundering of Sahrawi natural resources.
Mr. Lecoq stressed that 50 years of attempts, manipulation, pressure, and distortion of the foundations of international law—whether by the Moroccan occupier, France, the United States, Spain, or others—have all proven one unshakeable truth: no one can determine the fate or future of Western Sahara except the Sahrawi people, and the Sahrawi people alone.
Member of the National Secretariat, Prime Minister, Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun, stated in his remarks that the Frente POLISARIO has never rejected any mediation, proposal, or negotiations, provided they respect the Sahrawi people’s right to decolonization and self-determination.
He affirmed that resolving the Sahrawi issue has never been difficult, as it is a decolonization case whose solution is to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination through a free, fair, and transparent referendum. The real problem, he said, has always been French support, which has gone beyond political, diplomatic, and economic backing to include military intervention alongside the occupier, thereby encouraging Morocco to continue its occupation, human rights violations, plundering of resources, and prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people.
Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun stressed the need to unite ranks and intensify efforts to expose France’s double standards and contradictory discourse regarding the Sahrawi issue. He emphasized that it is now a global conviction—not only Sahrawi—that without France, Morocco would not have been able to continue occupying Western Sahara.
He added that without France and Spain, the European Commission would not have dared to confront European justice, disregard the rulings of the European Court of Justice—an institution that should be considered sacrosanct—and proceed with efforts to establish new agreements with the Moroccan occupier to plunder Sahrawi resources.
The Prime Minister called for coordinated work with European institutions and civil society to confront any attempt by the Commission or Council to violate international law, disregard the rulings of the European judiciary, or undermine international legitimacy.
Ms. Régine Villemont, President of the French Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi Republic and organizer of the conference, praised everyone who contributed to its success, particularly MP Jean-Paul Lecoq, who worked decisively to ensure that the legislative authority would open its doors and halls for the event.
She emphasized that the Sahrawi people have steadfast friends who will not abandon them, and that the unity and strength of the solidarity movement—together with the resilience of the Sahrawi people and the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO—remain a strong shield against all attempts to impose the reality of occupation or promote suspicious and unacceptable solutions.
Mr. Pierre Galand, President of the European Coordination, underlined that the latest UN Security Council resolution demonstrated the strength of the Sahrawi people in the face of attempts by the United States, France, Spain, and others. He affirmed that all such attempts are exposed, and that the United Nations—representing the world’s states and international legitimacy—reaffirmed during its October General Assembly session, as it does every year, the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, which remains the legal and international right that must be protected.
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