New blow for Polisario Front after losing Joachim Schuster’s support

LONDON – German Euro-deputy Joachim Schuster resigned Tuesday as the president of the European Parliamentary Intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi people" in a protest against the Polisario Front’s violation of the ceasefire, dealing another blow to the Algeria-backed separatist group.

"I consider the Polisario Front's deicision to end the ceasefire to be a serious strategic error," said Schuster of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in his resignation letter to his colleagues at the European Parliament.

"I do not see how this can promote a solution to the conflict, but rather fear that this conflict will be significantly exacerbated. I do not think that this serves the Sahrawi people," said the leader of European Parliamentary Intergroup which was created last February in Strasbourg.

"I have taken on the role of the president in order to contribute to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in a bid to encourage the EU to develop, hand in hand with the African Union, a more active and constructive approach towards the conflict and, of course, to promote the introduction of a new special representative of the United Nations for the Sahara," he added.

Schuster stressed that the conditions for these objectives had changed dramatically after the Polisario announced the end of the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement.

The EU deputy’s resignation dealt a huge blow to the Polisario’s support in the European Parliament five days after US President Donald Trump said that Israel and Morocco would restore diplomatic and other relations, including the immediate reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat and the eventual opening of embassies.

As part of the deal announced near the end of Trump's term, the United States will recognize Morocco's claim over the Western Sahara.

"Morocco recognized the United States in 1777.  It is thus fitting we recognize their sovereignty over the Western Sahara," tweeted Trump.

On November 13, Polisario Front leader Bahim Ghali said that he considered the ceasefire signed with Morocco in 1991 broken after the Royal Moroccan army successfully cleared the Guerguerat border crossing from the separatists who have been blocking the flow of goods and traffic for weeks following UN peacekeepers’ failure to intervene.