The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, described Algeria’s decision to suspend the Treaty of friendship and good neighbourly relations signed with Spain in 2002 as “extremely worrying” on Friday 10 June.
Algiers reproaches Madrid for its alignment with Morocco with respect to Western Sahara.
“We are assessing the implications of the Algerian actions, including the instruction given to the financial institutions to stop transactions between the two countries, which upfront appear to be in violation of the EU-Algeria Association Agreement, in particular in the area of trade and investment”, the High Representative and the Executive Vice-President said in a joint statement. This could have an impact on the delivery of Algerian gas to Spain.
Mr Borrell and Mr Dombrovskis warned that the Algerian decision could lead to discriminatory treatment of an EU Member State and would adversely affect the exercise of the Union’s rights under the agreement.
“The EU is ready to stand up against any type of coercive measures applied against an EU Member State. However, the EU continues to favour dialogue first to solve controversies”, they stressed, adding that they were in close contact with the Spanish government and were reaching out to the Algerian authorities to quickly clarify the situation. On Friday, Mr Dombrovskis met with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno in Brussels to discuss the situation.
Mr Borrell and Mr Dombrovskis expressed their confidence that in the name of the EU’s “strong and long-term” partnership with Algeria, a quick solution will be found to fully restore trade and investment relations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)