Despite being excluded by Moscow, the Polisario Front has welcomed the conclusions of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, held on November 9 and 10 in Sochi. «The joint Afro-Russian stance expressed at the close of the ministerial conference of the Africa-Russia Partnership Forum reinforces the international community's consensus on the need to allow the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination», the Front's press agency stated on Monday. However, the Final Declaration, reviewed by Yabiladi, paints a different picture. In its preamble, the communiqué highlights «the historic ties of friendship between the Russian Federation and African states, based on mutual respect, trust, and a shared tradition of struggle for the end of colonialism and the establishment of independence for African states». In this passage, «states» is mentioned twice, with no reference to the «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic», which was not among the participants and is not recognized by Moscow. The declaration «reaffirms the need to jointly oppose neo-colonialism, imposed conditions, and double standards that deprive states and peoples of the right to make sovereign decisions about their development path». The Sochi Forum also underscored «the shared responsibility of the Russian Federation and African states in building a just and stable world order based on the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the right of all peoples to self-determination, and the need to preserve national identity, resources, cultural and civilizational diversity, and traditional values». The communiqué further condemned «restrictions on the use of the mother tongue», with Moscow also defending the right to self-determination for Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and the three Baltic states. Russia did not invite the Polisario to participate in the Sochi Forum. It is also worth noting that the Final Declaration of the recent BRICS summit, held from October 22 to 24 in Kazan, Russia, ignored the Polisario's demands.
