L’Algeria he decided on June 8 to suspend his Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation with the Spainsigned on October 8, 2002, following the recent statement by the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to the conflict of Western Sahara and with the support of Madrid on the floor of the Morocco on the Sahrawi question. Meanwhile, according to reports from the web newspaper Maghreb Intelligence, Algeria is set to sign with the soon Russia an important agreement of military cooperationreplaces the old one Statement on Strategic Cooperation Signed between the two countries in 2001. According to the same source, the signing will take place on the sidelines of the Algerian President’s next state visit Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Moscow in June. The new military cooperation agreement with Russia – says Maghreb Intelligence – is the main axis of the president’s trip to the Russian capital.
The suspension of the friendship treaty between Algeria and Spain comes hours after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ratified in Parliament his government’s new position on the Western Sahara issue. “Spain has not ignored the cause of the Saharawi people, on the contrary, we have taken the debate where we think it should be: actively seeking one political solutionmutually acceptable, within the framework of United NationsSánchez said during Question Time in the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister also stressed that not only Spain supports the Moroccan position (which envisages the request to declare Western Sahara a separate territory with special autonomy), but also other countries, such as France you United States. “We need to unlock a conflict that has lasted too long,” he added.
In a statement reported by the Algerian national agency Aps, the Presidency of the Algerian Republic instead confirms that “the Spanish authorities have launched a campaign to justify the position taken towards Western Sahara in violation of their legal, moral and political obligations as administrative power of the territory belonging to Spain until the completion of the decolonization of Western Sahara” and accuses them of violating “international law”. According to reports in the Iberian newspaper El Pais, the Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares, he “regretted” Algeria’s decision and reiterated the Spanish government’s adherence to the principles that inspired the treaty that Algeria renounced. Albares also assured that he feared no reprisals gas supply and he stressed that Algeria was a “reliable partner” that had given “guarantees of the highest level” for the fulfillment of its commitments. Instead, Algiers intends to do so, according to Reuters reports check prices for every new gas contract with Spanish companies, but the current contract between the two countries is long-term and with prices well below current market levels, and that reassures the Iberian country.
Meanwhile, Tebboune is trying to strengthen ties with another ally and historical partner of the North African country: Russia Wladimir Putin. In fact, Moscow and Algiers should soon sign an important military cooperation agreement. According to reports from the Maghreb intelligence service, the provisions of the new treaty will be included joint and regular military exercises between the Algerian and Russian armed forces a strengthening of intelligence cooperation in different regional files like that of mali and from Libya and special the acquisition of advanced military equipment to consolidate Algeria’s deterrent forces. In addition, the secret provisions of this new agreement concern a military support very active by Russia in Algeria in case of problems threatening its national security or foreign military aggression. Some provisions also leave the door openInstallation of specialized Russian military units on Algerian territory in the event of a serious emergency. Also according to Maghreb Intelligence reports, most of these provisions remain undisclosed and remain in place hush-hush so as not to provoke a reaction from Algeria’s western partners, who are hostile to any form of alignment of the Algerian regime with Vladimir Putin’s agenda.