Spanish media points to 'Algerian plans to interfere in European institutions'

The Spanish media ”Cronica Global” has pointed the finger at the Algerian interference in the European institutions, noting that the Algerian regime uses the so-called “Sahara intergroup” to hatch its plans of interference in particular in the European Parliament.

“On paper, intergroups are a place for informal exchanges of views on specific issues and for promoting contacts between MEPs and civil society. However, there is a paradigmatic case that illustrates how they are co-opted by third country interests. This is the case of Algeria, which plans to interfere in the European institutions through the Sahara intergroup, the only one on a specific geographical region,” the Spanish portal noted.

Indeed, several MEPs of this intergroup, including the anti-capitalist Miguel Urban and the Galician pro-independence Ana Miranda, were invited to participate in the so-called “polisario Congress” held in mid-January, said the Spanish media, stating that “the participants arrived in Tindouf by a plane chartered by the Algerian government from Barcelona”.

“Curiously, the week following this visit, the European Parliament was particularly critical of Morocco, (…) and Ana Miranda and Miguel Urban were precisely the most critical MEPs,” the author of the article wondered.

“Faced with this dramatic situation, where the credibility of the institution and even the European project is at stake, the European Parliament must have no room for half-measures and must be ambitious in regulating the safe havens used to interfere in its decisions (…), including intergroups”, emphasized ”Cronica Global”.

The European Parliament itself acknowledges that these intergroups are sometimes “sponsored by lobby groups or governments”, but says that when they travel abroad, they “have no official status” and “cannot speak on behalf of the Parliament”, the publication stressed.