Visits And Meetings Between Algerian And Tunisian Officials Dispel Doubts

Accelerated steps in the Algerian-Tunisian relations during the last two days, marked by visits and meetings between Algerian and Tunisian officials, at a time when some “suspicious” parties are trying to push for aggravation of bilateral relations, following statements by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune that were “misinterpreted”, as stated in a statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry.

In this context, the Algerian-Tunisian Energy Cooperation Committee met, on Tuesday, headed by the Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab, and his Tunisian counterpart, Naila Nouira Al-Kanji, and the issue of energy cooperation was the focus of this meeting.

This meeting comes after the controversy that overshadowed the political discussions in the eastern neighbor during the past few days, which was printed by information attributed to the Tunisian Minister of Industry and Energy, that Algeria did not respond to Tunisian demands to raise gas exports to it, due to previous commitments with foreign partners.

The Tunisian official was also received by other officials, led by the Minister of Finance, Abderrahmane Raouya, the Minister of Industry, Ahmed Zeghdar, and the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of start-ups, Nassim Diafat.

This agreement comes in implementation of the bilateral memorandum of understanding and cooperation that was signed during President Tebboune’s visit to Tunisia last December.

Prior to the visit that led the Tunisian Minister of Industry to Algeria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, had met his Tunisian counterpart, Othman El-Jerandi, in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, on the occasion of the African Union’s summit on “unconstitutional changes to governments”, and El-Jerandi tweeted saying: “We exchanged visions about the African Summit. We affirmed the strength of relations between our two brotherly countries and our leaders, who gave it a strategic dimension”.

The head of Tunisian diplomacy added: “He (Lamamra) assured me that Algeria will always remain a bond for Tunisia as it was and still is a bond for Tunisia, based on what brings them together of past, present, future and a common destiny,” a tweet that followed a great controversy in the Tunisian media, outlets following the statements made by President Tebboune about Tunisia during his visit to Italy last week.

President Tebboune had confirmed from Rome, accompanied by his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, that Algeria and Italy will work to help Tunisia get out of the logjam in which it is locked, and “return to the path of democracy”, statements that some “suspicious” parties tried to invest in arguing this led towards aggravating bilateral relations, which are known for stability and smooth cooperation, by raising the notion of so-called interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs.

In a reaction, the Algerian Foreign Ministry considered these readings and statements as “hypothetical interpretations that do not correspond to Algeria’s firm solidarity with Tunisia and its brotherly people,” according to what was stated in a statement by a source from the Algerian Foreign Ministry to ”Echorouk”.

The same source stressed that “the statements provoked biased readings and interpretations that do not correspond to the express expression of the President of the Republic of Algeria’s actual solidarity with Tunisia and its brotherly people to help them overcome the difficulties they face,” stressing that Algeria will remain “faithful to its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries”.