The Diplomat
The President of Algeria, Abdelmayid Tebune, said on Friday night that there is currently no diplomatic progress in the stalled relations with Spain, following what he described as a “false step” by the government of Pedro Sánchez on Western Sahara.
In statements to several Algerian media, including the television channel AL24News, Tebune spoke of the consequences of Sánchez’s decision to describe Morocco’s autonomy proposal for the Sahara as “the most serious, credible and realistic” for a resolution of the dispute, words that led to what the Algerian leader described as the “freezing” of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Madrid and Algiers.
“Right now there is nothing new“, said Tebune, who reiterated that his misgivings are with the Spanish government and not with the people of Spain.
The Algerian leader stressed that the Treaty of Friendship is “frozen, but not cancelled”, and recalled that there are still agreements in force with the Spanish government, as there are with other countries such as Italy.
In any case, Tebune once again regretted Spain’s “unfriendly act”, considering that its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan nullifies the Saharawi people’s claims to self-determination. This decision led the Algerian government to recall its ambassador to Madrid on 19 March last year, the day after Rabat announced that Spain was backing its Western Sahara initiative.
The Algerian president insisted that “the Spanish people have nothing to do with it”. “We have – he stressed – very good relations with them. We have great respect for the King of Spain and we continue to cooperate with other organisations.
Personally,” he said, “I feel sorry for the current state of relations, but Algeria is not at the origin of this crisis.
