EU body rejects STC’s declaration of autonomy in south Yemen

The EU’s diplomatic service yesterday announced it does not recognise the declaration of self-rule made by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Sunday over the southern Yemeni provinces.

Spokesperson for the European External Action Service based in Brussels, Pierre Vimont, said that “the transitional council’s declaration impeded the United Nations efforts to reach peace in Yemen.”

The lead spokesman for European Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano, also urged the STC and the Saudi-supported Yemeni government to adhere to the so-called Riyadh Agreement.

He stressed that the declaration of “autonomy” in southern Yemen would cause further instability and hinder the efforts of the UN in reaching an end to the conflict in Yemen.

READ: Egypt warns against deviating from Riyadh Agreement on Yemen

Additionally, the Saudi Gazette reported that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had expressed its support for the Saudi-backed coalition and called to end all actions that contravene the agreement. The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is also said to have backed calls for implementing the power-sharing deal.

However, a leader in the STC has maintained that the council will never reverse its claim for autonomy over the southern provinces, including its capital; the port-city of Aden.

Although it has since been reported that five out of eight Yemeni governorates rejected the STC’s declaration and confirmed their allegiance to exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Separately, the spokesperson for the Houthi movement, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, yesterday stated on Twitter that crimes carried out by the Saudi-backed Islah Party militia in their northern stronghold city of Marib remain more of a threat than those posed by the STC.

The pro-Houthi forces are currently closing in on the remaining northern provincial capital held by pro-Saudi forces.