Spanish FM Manuel Albares Insists On “Mining” Relations With Algeria

Despite the progress achieved at the level of Algerian-Spanish relations, which culminated in the return of the Algerian ambassador, Abdel Fattah Daghmoum, to Madrid after more than a year and a half of diplomatic rupture, this improvement remained at square one, and the reason is the lack of seriousness of the Spanish party in reforming the situation. What spoiled it.
Spanish exports to Algeria are still stuck since the deviation that occurred in the spring of 2022 in the position of the Spanish government headed by Pedro Sanchez on the Sahrawi issue, with its bias in favor of the Moroccan regime, and this caused the bankruptcy of many companies that dealt with Algeria.
One of the reasons that led to the continued state of tension between Algeria and Madrid is found on the website of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by José Manuel Albares, whom the Algerian Foreign Ministry described at the height of the crisis as an “instigator of strife” and an “amateur diplomat”. In the latest update of its policy principles in the Maghreb and the Middle East, at the beginning of this year, it deleted a phrase that was considered one of the constants of the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
The updated website of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the section on foreign policy towards the Maghreb and the Middle East, states: “With regard to Western Sahara, Spain supports the achievement of a political solution acceptable to both parties, within the framework of the United Nations Charter and Security Council resolutions. Spain supports the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations”. The United Nations maintains its humanitarian commitment to the inhabitants of the Sahrawi refugee camps and positions itself as the first bilateral donor.
On the surface, these phrases seem reasonable and acceptable, because they do not indicate, either closely or remotely, Madrid’s support for the “autonomy” plan presented by the Moroccan regime with regard to Western Sahara, according to what was stated in the letter revealed by the Alawite regime after the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to Madrid in March 2022, But the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which provides the broad outlines of foreign policy, in turn ignored a consistent position of Madrid for many decades, which is that of “the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. ”
The Spanish position, as stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is as follows: “Spain supports a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that provides for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people within the framework of the principles and objectives of the United Nations Charter.” After the amendment, it read as follows: “Spain supports a political solution acceptable to both parties within the framework of the United Nations Charter and Security Council Resolutions. Spain supports the work of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations”, knowing that this comparison was made by the Spanish newspaper “El Debate” before and after the update. The amendment can be verified by visiting the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
Although the amendment does not recognize the alleged sovereignty of the Moroccan regime over the occupied Sahrawi territories, it deprives the Sahrawi people of the right guaranteed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 690, adopted unanimously on April 29, 1991, which recognizes the Moroccan regime in question, What the newspaper considered a new concession to the Moroccan regime.
“El Debate” points out that the change in the text published on the website of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs came after a malfunction that occurred on the website of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hours after a phone call between the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, which culminated in a tweet from Sanchez, previously posted on the “X” Twitter account, announcing that in the conversation they agreed on “the importance of the friendship between Spain and Morocco”.