The European Union allowed the participation of Polisario members at a ministerial meeting held Friday in Rome with the African Union, focused on agricultural development in Africa. The delegation from the Front was led by its so-called «Minister of Agriculture», who, in his speech, emphasized «the vital importance of this event and its key role in achieving sustainable development and economic integration», according to the SPS news agency, reported on Saturday. As with the Polisario's presence at the AU–EU ministerial meeting on May 21 in Brussels, the EU spokesperson reiterated that «neither the EU nor any of its member states recognize the so-called 'SADR'», according to MAP. «The agreed arrangements specify that each side is responsible for inviting its own participants (...) Invitations to African representatives are issued by the African Union», the spokesperson clarified. The Polisario's presence in Rome comes in contrast to its exclusion from the most recent U.S.-Africa Business Summit, held from June 22 to 25 in Luanda, Angola — a country that still recognizes the «SADR». Notably, the Front is not invited to the African Union's partnership summits with Russia, China, Turkey, Italy, South Korea, Indonesia, or the United States, but it continues to take part in meetings involving the European Union and Japan.
