Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told Algeria that his country’s position in support for Morocco’s autonomy plan is a “sovereign decision.”
This came in a reaction to multiple statements by Algerian officials and President Tebboune himself who blamed Spain for its new position in support of Morocco’s territorial integrity.
“Without fueling sterile debates, Spain took a sovereign decision within the framework of the international law and there is nothing to add,” Albares told radio Onda Cero.
Algeria has once again shown its real face as the main party behind the perpetuation of the Sahara conflict when it recalled its ambassador from Madrid, after the Spanish Prime Minister sent a letter to King Mohammed VI describing Morocco’s autonomy initiative as “the most serious, realistic and credible” solution to the Sahara conflict.
President Tebboune told his regime’s media that the decision was that of Sanchez and had nothing to do with the Spanish state, a statement that shows his ignorance of how decisions are made in a democracy.
Sanchez had said that support for Morocco’s autonomy plan is a state policy and that the Spanish government would act accordingly.
Albares, in his radio interview, said however that what matters for Spain is that Algeria would uphold its gas supply deals with Spain.
El Confidencial in a recent article said that Spain and Europe are supporting Morocco, a source of stability and a gate to Africa, while dealing with Algeria only as a mere gas supplier.
It wrote that Algeria cannot cut gas because that is what it lives on!