Paris (France), 28 November 2025 (SPS) – The French capital, Paris, hosted a press conference ahead of the opening of the 49th Conference of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People.
The conference was jointly led by the Prime Minister, 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 People, Ms. Régine Villemont, and Oubi Bouchraya, Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic in charge of natural resources and related legal issues. The event was attended by a large number of French journalists and correspondents from international and national media outlets.
Mr. Pierre Galand opened the conference with a presentation on the latest developments in the process of decolonizing Western Sahara, and on what is required from the solidarity movement at this sensitive stage of the Sahrawi people’s struggle.
Ms. Régine Villemont welcomed the attendees and participants, highlighting the importance of holding the conference in Paris, considering the “shameful” position of the French government.
The Prime Minister praised the support provided by the French Friendship Association and the European Coordination to the Sahrawi cause and the Sahrawi people’s struggle from the beginning. He noted that choosing France to host the 49th Conference of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People was a correct and deliberate choice, aimed at highlighting the clear contradiction between the values France claims—such as democracy, freedom, and protection of the law—and its actual actions on the ground.
He stressed that France’s actions in Western Sahara—through its explicit and clear support for the Moroccan occupation, encouraging Morocco to continue its occupation of Western Sahara, its systematic and ongoing human rights violations, and its continued plundering of the Sahrawi people’s natural resources despite the ruling of the EU Court of Justice on 4 October 2024—expose this contradiction.
Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun emphasized that France and Spain were the ones who encouraged the European Commission to disregard the ruling of the EU Court of Justice and to seek a new agreement between the EU and Morocco that includes Western Sahara’s natural resources.
He stressed that the Sahrawi people and the world are convinced that without France’s political, military, diplomatic, and economic support for Morocco, Morocco would not have continued its occupation of Western Sahara, and the suffering of the Sahrawi people—which has lasted for more than half a century—would not have persisted.
The Prime Minister noted that the 49th conference of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People focuses on three key points. The first is addressing the error and the misleading interpretation adopted by the European Commission as justification for approving its agreements with Morocco. He clarified that the ruling urges negotiations between the two parties, with outcomes acceptable to both sides, respecting the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, and based on international law.
The second point concerns the European Commission’s attempt to impose agreements that violate international law and European justice. He stressed that the conference must call on European civil society and institutions to resist the Commission’s attempts.
He also emphasized that the United States has decided to reduce its support for UN humanitarian agencies, which has negatively affected the Sahrawi people. The World Food Programme has been forced to reduce assistance by 30%, making 2026 a difficult year for the Sahrawi population. He stressed the need to work to alleviate this pressure and expressed concern that the cuts might have political motives aimed at forcing the Sahrawis to accept solutions other than their legitimate right to freedom and independence.
Responding to journalists’ questions, the Adviser to the President of the Republic in charge of Natural Resources and Related Legal Issues highlighted the actions of the European Commission in seeking new agreements between the EU and Morocco that include Western Sahara, despite the ruling of the EU Court of Justice issued on 4 October 2024. He stressed that the Sahrawi people will take all necessary measures and use all legitimate means provided by international law and European court rulings, relying greatly on their friends and the solidarity movement to counter this blatant violation of European justice and the attempts to distort and adapt laws to fit the reality of the occupation.
Oubi Bouchraya provided detailed explanations about the content of the Court ruling and the violations committed by the European Commission in its attempt to establish a new, illegal framework of agreements with the Moroccan occupier.
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