Brussels, 05/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Algerian Ambassador to Brussels will be received by the European Commission on Thursday 7 February to clarify Algeria's stance over its refusal to issue visas to two Community missions (see EUROPE of 2 February, p.10), said Commissioner Patten's spokesperson. In Algiers, sources seem to be pleading for a misunderstanding. But unofficial Algerian sources, such as the President of the Belgian Relal association (relation Algérie), denounce, from the European side, "the administrative slow pace in issuing visas" to Algerian operators, some of whom must wait up to five months, he said at a meeting-debate between Algerian and Belgian businessmen. On behalf of the Algerian League for Human Rights, its chairman Ali Yahia Abdennour, regretted that Algeria should have refused visas to the EU mission for which he confirmed that the "goal (….) was to identify partners in independent civil society to discuss the major thrusts of aid that the European Union could provide in matters of human rights and democratisation". He impresses "on the European Union the seriousness of the human rights situation in Algeria".
This affair comes in a climate where opposition to an association agreement, initialled in December, like accession to the WTO is strong. According to the Algerian independent news agency, Algérie-Interface, "Algerian employers complain at not having been consulted in Algerian-European negotiations". The agency notes that Foreign Minister "Belkhadem played down this criticism by the employers" who have a "favourable attitude, except for a partnership". The allusion is aimed at the Forum of Company Employers, Algérie-interface explains. "Economic operators, through the Forum, as well as the National Confederation of Employers (CNPA), fear European competition in the absence of a programme of bringing industry up to scratch comparable to the one put in place in Tunisia from 1995".