Eduardo González
The Algerian Presidency announced yesterday the “immediate” suspension of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation with Spain in retaliation for its “unjustifiable” support for “the illegal and illegitimate autonomy formula” proposed by Morocco for Western Sahara. The Government of Spain regretted this decision and reiterated its “full availability” to maintain and develop “the special relations of cooperation between the two countries”.The PP has demanded the urgent appearance in Congress of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, late yesterday afternoon, Algiers’ decision to freeze exports and imports with Spain was announced.
In a note sent to all banking institutions in the Arab country, the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions of Algeria (Abef) announced “the freezing of direct debits of foreign trade operations of products and services to and from Spain” as of today.
In its note, the association demands that all necessary provisions be adopted for “a strict application of this measure”. The circular does not establish any type of exception for transactions and, therefore, opens up the radius of effect to all types of sectors, including the energy sector.
Only a few hours earlier, the Presidency of the Republic of Algeria had pointed out in a statement that “the Spanish authorities are embarked on a campaign to justify their position on Western Sahara, which violates the legal, moral and political obligations incumbent on the Kingdom of Spain as the administering power of the territory until the United Nations declares the conclusion of the decolonisation of Western Sahara”.
“These same authorities, responsible for an unjustifiable setback in their position since the announcements of March 18, 2022, in which the current Spanish Government gave its full support to the illegal and illegitimate internal autonomy formula advocated by the occupying power, are attempting to promote a colonial fait accompli using fallacious arguments,” it continued.
“This attitude of the Spanish Government violates the international legality imposed on it by its status as an administering power and the efforts of the United Nations and the new personal envoy of the Secretary General and contributes directly to the deterioration of the situation in Western Sahara and in the region,” the Presidency of the Republic continued. “Consequently, Algeria has decided to proceed to the immediate suspension of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation of October 8, 2002 with the Kingdom of Spain and which has framed, until now, the development of relations between the two countries”, the statement concluded.
Spain “regrets” Algeria’s decision
In response to this decision, the Government of Pedro Sanchez issued a statement yesterday in which it “regrets the announcement by the Presidency of the Republic of Algeria” to “suspend the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation” and assures that “Spain considers Algeria a neighboring and friendly country and reiterates its full availability to continue maintaining and developing the special relations of cooperation between the two countries, for the benefit of both peoples.”
Likewise, the Spanish Executive reaffirms its “full commitment to the content of the Treaty and the principles that inform it, reflected in its preamble and in particular the strict adherence to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of International Law as fundamental elements for the maintenance of peace, security and justice in international society, in particular the principles of sovereign equality of States, non-interference in internal affairs and respect for the inalienable right of peoples to dispose of themselves”.
For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured on his arrival at the III International Economic Forum of EXPANSIÓN that Spain is going to “continue working for a relationship of respect and mutual benefit” with Algeria and reminded that the Government of this country, “a reliable partner and a reliable supplier”, has given “guarantees at the highest level” both in terms of migration and gas supply, “and nothing indicates that it will be otherwise”. The PP has demanded the urgent appearance in Congress of Albares to give explanations on this “very bad news”, the origin of which, according to the main opposition party, are “the “the wanderings” of Sánchez with respect to Western Sahara.
In declarations to the Europa Press agency, the delegate in Spain of the Polisario Front, Abdulah Arubi, justified yesterday the decision of Algeria by the “radical turn” of Pedro Sanchez regarding Western Sahara, which “goes against international law and rules out self-determination”, and warned that the announcement of the Algerian Presidency shows that relations between Spain and Algeria are not as “solid” as “they try to let it be seen” by the Spanish authorities. “Spain has to understand that North Africa is made up of many more countries, not just Morocco,” he added.
With this decision, the Algerian Presidency reacts strongly to the decision of Pedro Sanchez to communicate to Morocco, in a letter sent to King Mohamed VI on April 18, to recognize the Moroccan proposal of autonomy for Western Sahara as “the most serious, credible and realistic basis for the resolution of this dispute”, a radical change of course in Spanish foreign policy which has made it possible to overcome the very serious bilateral diplomatic crisis with Morocco at the price of ruining good relations with Algeria – the main supplier of gas to Spain, a relevant fact in the current energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine – which has resulted in the Algerian ambassador in Madrid being recalled for consultations as a sign of protest.
Last April 24, the President of Algeria, Abdelmayid Tebune, accused Pedro Sanchez of having broken the “cordial and strong” relations between the two countries with his decision on Western Sahara. “What Spain has done is unacceptable, ethically and historically,” he denounced. Spain is the administering power and “has no right to hand over a colonized territory to another country”, added the president, who, however, guaranteed that his country will absolutely comply with all the agreements on gas supplies to Spain. “Algeria will never get rid of its commitments to supply gas to Spain, whatever the circumstances”, he assured.
The atmosphere became even more heated the following day as a result of statements made by José Manuel Albares in which, in response to President Tebune, he described the diplomatic problems which had arisen between the two countries as “sterile polemics”. The Algerian government reacted immediately to these “regrettable and totally unacceptable” remarks by Albares.
