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Join on Telegram Rabat – Seventeen Members of the European Parliament have renewed their deep concerns about Algeria’s growing support for Russia.
In a letter written by the MEPs, addressed to European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they expressed that they are “deeply concerned” about the “ever-growing” ties between Russia and Algeria amid the Ukraine crisis.
The letter also conveyed the MEPs’ “astonishment” about Algeria’s decision to abstain from voting on UN resolutions condemning Russia’s acts of war in Ukraine.
“Algeria joined Syria and 23 other members in a vote against excluding Russia from the UN Human Rights Council,” the MEP warned, stressing that this decision reflects Algeria’s “support for Moscow’s geopolitical aspirations.”
Recalling the strong alliance between Algiers and Moscow, the letter further condemned the involvement of Algeria in its extravagant spending on Russian arms, recalling that Algeria’s regime is “among the top four buyers of Russian arms worldwide, culminating with a more than EUR 7 billion arms deal in 2021.”
The letter warned that such spending would only “further enable Russia’s war machine in Ukraine.”
US congresspeople expressed similar concerns in September, when 27 members of the house called for “immediate” action to sanction the Algerian government for its purchase of Russian arms.
Read Also: Russian Arms: US Members of Congress Call for Sanctions on Algeria
Double standards
The statement also condemned the Algerian regime’s double standards, recalling Algeria’s decision to abstain from voting on a resolution that condemned Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian regions in October.
“Algeria abstained from voting on this resolution, which is astonishing taking into account that Algeria has always tried to abide by international law and it respects nations’ sovereignty. However, it seems that is all about Algerian double standards,” the letter reads.
The signatories of the letter include Andrius Kubilius from Lithuania, Karen Melchior from Denmark, Tomasz Frankowski from Poland, Alexander Yordanov from Bulgaria, and Teuvo Hakkarainen from Finland.
Algeria has been frequently linked to interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, including Libya and Morocco.
In April, Libyan parliamentarians from the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives accused Algeria of “interference in Libya’s sovereign affairs.”
“Algeria’s actions deny the autonomy of our elected representatives, and threaten the internal unity of Libya itself,” parliamentarian Yusuf al-Akouri stated.
In addition to Libya, Algeria’s regime also challenges Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Algeria’s regime hosts, finances, arms, and trains the Polisario Front, a separatist group that claims independence in Western Sahara.
Morocco’s government exposed Algeria’s double standards on different occasions before the international community.
In May, Morocco’s permanent ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale ridiculed Algeria over its double standards, saying: “You are asking for self-determination for the 20,000 people you are kidnapping in the Tindouf camps, but you are denying it to a people of 12 million inhabitants.”
