The European Union has expressed its “extreme concern” following Algeria’s decision to suspend its Treaty of Friendship with Spain.
“The EU is ready to oppose any type of coercive measures applied to a member state of the Union,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, in a joint statement.
For the European Union Algeria’s decision is a violation of its trade law, considering an association agreement was signed in 2002 and entered into force in 2005 between Algeria and the EU.
This new act of Algerian blackmail has been vigorously denounced at the level of the European Parliament as well.
Members belonging to different political groups in the European Parliament have condemned this unilateral measure which,
according to them, is a response to Madrid’s sovereign decision to support the Moroccan autonomy plan.
The Spanish government has also responded firmly to these actions, rejecting any interference in the country’s foreign policy, including its sovereign positions.
Madrid’s response will be “adequate, serene, constructive, but also firm in the defense of Spain’s interests,” said the
the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares, in a statement to the press on Thursday 9 June.
For the MP Andrey Kovachev, spokesman for enlargement and the southern neighborhood of the European People’s Party, “Algeria is casting doubt on its reliability, » noting that “any attitude of blackmail should not be accepted. »
The Czech MP Tomas Zdechovsky considered that “the current steps Algeria is taking towards Spain and European Union are totally useless.”
Euro-parliamentarian Ilhan Kyuchyuk also denounced “unacceptable Algerian blackmail.”
Following an outpour of EU condemnations of this unilateral act, the Algerian embassy to the EU has responded this Friday to the statement of the European Commission, which pointed to a possible violation of the association agreement in the area of trade and investment, reports El Confidential.
According to the Spanish newspaper, “the embassy of Algeria to the EU responded this Friday with another letter in which it states that « Spain’s gas supply is not in danger and even assures that the trade between the two has not been cut. »
For its part, El Pais adds that the Algerian delegation to the European institutions has assured that “the
alleged measure of the government of Algiers to stop the transactions in progress with a European partner with Spain has been misrepresented.
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