Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - CJUE 05/10/2024

Algeria welcomes the rulings made public on October 4th by the Court of Justice of the European Union, confirming the illegality of trade agreements concluded with the Kingdom of Morocco, in violation of the Sahrawi people’s inalienable rights over the natural resources contained in the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara.

These rulings confirm the United Nations doctrine that enshrines the sovereignty of the peoples of non-self-governing territories over their natural wealth and the imperative to ensure the protection of these resources against any plunder and predation of which they may be victims, as abundantly demonstrated by the case of Western Sahara.

Similarly, and on a more general level, these rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union recall the undeniable truths inherent to the Sahrawi cause, including notably the legal status of this territory, the legal quality of the Polisario Front, as well as the inalienable and imprescriptible right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.

These irrefutable truths cannot be altered by the manifest will of some European countries to endorse the colonial fait accompli in Western Sahara.

In this regard, Algeria regrets that some European countries, already contravening the United Nations doctrine regarding the protection of the wealth of non-self-governing territories, have opposed the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. This attitude indicates how little these countries care about international and European rule of law.

Furthermore, Algeria expects European countries, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, whose commitment to the rule of law is erected as a fundamental principle of external action, to fully comply with the spirit and letter of these final and definitive rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union which are not subject to any additional avenue of appeal.