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Rabat – Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has blamed Morocco for the deteriorating ties between the two countries.
“We have practically reached the point of no return,” Tebboune said in an interview with Al Jazeera, stressing that his country’s position is a “response” to Morocco’s actions.
He claimed that Algeria was not the one who started the problem.
Algeria cut ties with Morocco in 2021, after falsely accusing Rabat of the wildfires that broke out in the Kabylia region.
Algeria’s decision to break ties with Morocco came just a few days after Rabat had offered to send firefighter jets to help Algerian authorities in putting out the wildfires that were ravaging the region.
Rabat also frequently called on Algeria to engage in a frank and direct dialogue to end the political stalemate.
Despite Morocco’s initiatives, Algeria remains determined to continue challenging Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Algeria finances, backs, hosts, arms, and trains the Polisario Front – a separatist movement claiming independence in Western Sahara.
Tebboune renewed his country’s hostility, condemning Spain’s recent decision to endorse Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible basis to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
In response to Spain’s decision, Tebboune said that Spain’s position is “partial.”
This is not the first time Tebboune expressed frustration over the growing support for Morocco’s position.
In another interview last year, Tebboune described Spain’s new position on the dispute as “morally and historically unacceptable.”
Algeria also recalled its ambassador from Madrid in the immediate aftermath of Spain’s positive position in favor of Morocco’s autonomy initiative.
Algeria also froze a 20-year-long friendship treaty with Spain. In addition to a blockade on imports and exports to and from Algeria, costing the European country €930 million, a recent report from El Periodico stated.
Tebboune’s new comments suggest that his country is still reluctant to shoulder its responsibility in the Western Sahara dispute amid UN attempts to revive dialogue between the parties to the conflict.
Despite its support to the separatist group, Algeria continues to claim itself as merely an observer rather than a main party to the dispute.
Such claims, however, were shattered by UN resolutions, including Resolution 2654, which confirmed Algeria’s responsibility in the Western Sahara dispute.
Paragraph three of the resolution, which was adopted last year in October, said that the Security Council “strongly encourages Morocco, the Frente POLISARIO, Algeria, and Mauritania to engage with the Personal Envoy through the duration of this process, in a spirit of realism and compromise to ensure a successful outcome.”
