Following last year's setback, the Polisario Front has succeeded in reactivating its friendship group within the European Parliament. The group, formally established on Wednesday in Strasbourg, will be chaired by Austrian Socialist MEP Andreas Schieder. In 2024, the Social Democratic Group had rejected the creation of a support group for the separatist movement, prompting the Polisario to accuse Spain's ruling PSOE, the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, of blocking their initiative. The group's formation comes at a favorable moment for the Polisario in the European Parliament. Several MEPs have recently voiced criticism of the new provisional agricultural agreement between Morocco and the European Union, which covers products originating from Western Sahara. They have also submitted written questions to the European Commission, calling for compliance with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rulings of October 4, 2024, which exclude the Sahara from any trade agreements with Rabat. The creation of this friendship group represents a modest win for the Polisario, at a time when the United States, France, and the United Kingdom are actively working within the UN Security Council to revive negotiations based on Morocco's 2007 autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
