Algeria’s relations with Spain get back on track
After a somewhat lengthy straining of ties, Algeria and Spain made a significant diplomatic breakthrough, according to The National Independent and various Algerian news outlets.
Affairs between the two countries have improved since the appointment of an Algerian Ambassador to Spain in November, the role was left vacant since March 2022 up until then, and socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s reelection the same month.
Friction was in the air thanks to Madrid’s stance on the contentious Western Sahara issue which has long put Algeria and neighbouring Morocco at each other’s throats.
Back in June 2022, Algeria imposed trade sanctions, asides from on gas and oil, on Spain in response to their recognition of Morocco’s total sovereignty over the territory. In the same year Algerian head Abdelmadjid Tebboune suspended a 20-year friendship treaty with Spain.
READ: Spain’s trade with Algeria dives due to Sahara stand
On January 14, the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF) in the North African state, which has strong ties to the Ministry of Finance, revoked a previous decision to suspend the localisation of the import process for chicken eggs intended for hatching from Spain.
ABEF also noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development granted import licenses for the benefit of Algerian institutions and economic clients in the poultry farming industry.
The decisions emphasised the progress the pair are making, and Sanchez affirmed that Algeria was a “close friend” as well as a “strategic partner” of the Spanish during recent ambassador talks in Madrid.
The Spanish Prime Minister also stressed that the maintaining of a cooperation with the country was key and is looking to build on the ties the countries already have.
As a result of previous hostilities between the two, experts have found that the losses in exports and imports are estimated to be approximately one billion Euros.
The National Independent
