Human rights NGOs, independent media and Sudanese officials have said Abu Dhabi has fueled the conflict by transferring weapons to the RSF as it battles the Sudanese Armed Forces, which are supported by Egypt, for control of the country.
The UAE denies supporting the RSF or interfering in Sudan’s war. A UAE government spokesperson told POLITICO there is zero evidence of interference and rejected any link to the paramilitary group.
The Parliament text — backed by a broad coalition including the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists, the far-right Patriots, the liberals of Renew and the Greens — condemns the two-year conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people and plunged 25 million into extreme hunger.
According to three Parliament officials familiar with negotiations between the political factions, language that criticized the UAE’s alleged role in Sudan proposed by the Socialists, Renew and Greens proved to be a red line for the EPP — which was, in turn, supported by groups to its right.
Supportive signal
The resolution drew an unusually assertive diplomatic operation from the Gulf.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s envoy for Europe, traveled to Strasbourg with an entourage to meet with MEPs and argue that Abu Dhabi is working toward peace in Sudan rather than exacerbating the conflict.