The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, admitted yesterday that there is a blockade of trade operations with Spain on the part of Algeria, and pointed out that the European Commission is notified of each case detected.
In an interview on Radio Nacional, when asked about the tensions with Algeria, the minister said that what the Secretary of State for Trade has told him is that, “despite Algerian statements saying that they were ill-intentioned fantasies on the part of Spain, there is indeed a blocking of operations”.
The Algerian authorities assured on 10 June that it was not true that they had ordered a halt to financial transactions with Spain, as had been published, a statement that came after the European Commission warned Algiers that this could be a violation of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Maghreb country.
However, Spanish companies have continued to find it difficult to do business with Algeria, according to Albares’ statements.
The Foreign Affairs Minister insisted in his statements that trade policy is communitised, and for this reason, he delegated responsibility to the Vice-President of the Commission in charge of EU trade policy, Valdis Dombrovski. He added that whenever blocked operations are detected, “they are passed on to the Commission, which is requesting explanations from Algeria”, and that contact is being made with businessmen.
As for what action the government should take to restore normal relations with Algiers, Albares said that they are “working on it” and that they hope that everything “will be redirected through dialogue, diplomacy and the friendship that the Spanish people profess to the Algerian people”.
On the other hand, with regard to Morocco’s actions in the assault on the Melilla fence last Friday, the minister said he was “convinced” that neither the Moroccan gendarmerie nor the State Security Forces and Corps “are trying to evade anyone’s human rights”, although, in line with the bicolour Executive, “there is an enormous difficulty in channelling these thousands of people who are trying to jump the fence”.
Albares pointed out that the phenomenon of migration is much more complex than is usually explained, and that the collaboration of the Moroccan gendarmerie is necessary on this border.
With regard to Morocco’s accusations against Algeria, he stated that the relevant investigations are being carried out to clarify the facts.
Finally, on the controversial statements in which Pedro Sánchez said that the crisis of the assault on the Melilla fence had been well resolved, he defined the result of the assault on the fence, the Foreign Affairs Minister defended the President of the Government, on the grounds that “not all the data is known”, also stressing that Sánchez is the President who “most often” has put the migratory phenomenon and its complexity on the table in Europe.
