Brussels, 07/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - A delegation of four MEPs from the Western Sahara Intergroup, led by Ivo Vajgl (ALDE, Slovenia), were held on disembarkation at Casablanca airport and refused entry to Morroco on Wednesday 6 March.
The group was due to conduct “a fact-finding mission to study the current political situation in the region”, a European Parliament ALDE Group press release states, which also says that the “trip had been announced in advance to the Moroccan authorities”. The refusal to welcome them had apparently been notified by official letter only after their departure, the press release assures. The mission follows the resolution adopted in Strasbourg on 22 February ahead of the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which is being held in Geneva until 22 March, Willy Meyer MEP (GUE/NGL, Spain) told media.
“Disappointed and dismayed” by the Moroccan reaction, the leader of the ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt, called for “an ongoing effort to maintain dialogue”. In his opinion, “members of the European Parliament do not pose a threat to the Moroccan authorities and their interest in the region should be welcomed and not bluntly rejected by sending the delegation members back to their respective countries after having arrived in the country”. (FB/transl.fl)