Algeria withdraws its ambassador from France because of its position on the Western Sahara issue

The Algerian government announced the withdrawal of its ambassador to Paris with immediate effect, following the French government’s recognition of the Moroccan plan for autonomy as the sole basis for resolving the Western Sahara conflict, which is rejected by Algeria, which affirms its adherence to the principle of self-determination, “in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy.”

The crisis returned to the Algeria-Paris axis after months of recovery, and the reason this time was not bilateral relations or issues of memory, but rather the issue of Western Sahara, which Algeria considers a matter of national security for the country.

A statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry stated that Algeria decided “with immediate effect to withdraw its ambassador to the French Republic, following the French government’s recognition of the Moroccan plan for autonomy as the sole basis for resolving the Western Sahara conflict within the framework of alleged Moroccan sovereignty.”

Regarding the justifications for the decision, the Algerian statement stated: “The French government has declared its categorical and clear support for the imposed colonial reality in the territory of Western Sahara. This step, which was not taken by any previous French government, was taken by the current government with great negligence and recklessness, without any insightful assessment of its consequences.”

The statement added, “By recognizing the Moroccan plan for self-rule as the sole basis for resolving the Western Sahara conflict within the framework of alleged Moroccan sovereignty, the French government is violating international legitimacy, denying the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, and contradicting all the tireless and tireless efforts made by the United Nations with the aim of completing the path of decolonization in the Sahara.” The West also shirks the special responsibilities that result from its permanent membership in the UN Security Council.

The statement added, “At a time when the United Nations is mobilizing its good offices to give new momentum to the path of searching for a political settlement to the conflict in Western Sahara, the French decision contradicts these efforts, obstructs their implementation, and conflicts with the higher interest of peace, security and stability in the region.”

In the footsteps of Spain

It seems that the crisis with France took on the same character after Spain announced the same decision in March 2002, which had caused Algeria to announce the withdrawal of its ambassador from Madrid, and then its decision to immediately suspend the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation concluded with the Kingdom of Spain in 2002.

The Algerian presidency stated in its justifications at the time (March 2022) that what Spain did “is a violation of its legal, moral and political obligations to the authority responsible for the territory, which falls on the shoulders of the Kingdom of Spain until the end of colonialism in Western Sahara is declared by the United Nations.”

This sudden development in relations between Algeria and France depends strongly on the scheduled visit of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Paris at the end of next September if he is re-elected, noting that the visit has been postponed three times since its announcement at the beginning of 2022 due to urgent tensions in relations.

This is the second time that Algeria has decided to withdraw its ambassador from Paris. In early October 2021, Algeria had summoned its ambassador, Antar Daoud, for consultations in protest against statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he questioned “whether there was an Algerian nation before French colonialism,” according to what was reported at the time by Le Monde newspaper.

On January 6, 2022, it was decided to return the ambassador to his position, and relations witnessed a kind of calm that was disturbed from time to time by new issues (the case of activist Amira Bourawi), but without any significant impact.

Source: Agencies