The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, hopes that “the unblocking of trade relations in Algeria will be confirmed on the ground”, after the Algerian Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (Abef) announced late on Thursday that banking operations with Spain had been unfrozen.
Albares, who appeared at a press conference in Leioa (Bilbao), after the meeting of the CARUE (Conference for Affairs Related to the European Union), pointed out that he was informed on Thursday of the circular from the Algerian banking association by which “commercial relations are normalised”, and commented that the Government is waiting for “the unblocking of these commercial operations to be confirmed on the ground”.
He reiterated that, in any case, “what Spain wants is to have the best relations with Algeria, with the people and with the government of Algeria, and that what prevails is the feeling of friendship that the Spanish people have for the Algerian people, and that the Algerian people also have for the Spanish people”.
Albares expressed his confidence that relations with Algeria “will be exactly the same” as those that Spain maintains with all neighbouring countries, “based on friendship, mutual benefit and respect, on sovereign equality, and on non-interference in internal affairs”.
The minister insisted that the gas contracts with Algeria are “absolutely guaranteed”, as the Algerian President, Abdelmayid Tebboune, “made very clear” on 24 April on public television.
He also recalled that the Algerian government “has issued two official communiqués, after 8 June, in which a paragraph explicitly states that the gas supply is guaranteed”. According to Albares, this is something that Spanish gas companies “confirm on a daily basis”.
