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Join on Telegram Rabat – Italy expressed its full rejection of ongoing Algerian propaganda over the reported opening of an Italian consulate in Tindouf, reiterating its support for Morocco’s “serious and credible” efforts in resolving the Sahara dispute.
The Italian embassy in Rabat released a statement today addressing Algerian media’s misleading interpretation of, and reports on, the temporary establishment of a Visa Facilitation Services Global (VFS-Global) branch in Tindouf. The branch, which will be open for two months, only aims to improve and facilitate visa application procedures, the embassy clarified.
As Tindouf has long served as the headquarters of the Polisario Front, the separatist group seeking independence in the Western Sahara region in southern Morocco, the establishment of the branch in the Algerian town led the press in Algeria to self-servingly speculate over the supposedly hidden significance of the move.
In particular, many in the Algerian media rushed to interpret the opening of the temporary VFS-Global as a potential endorsement of Algeria’s position on the Sahara dispute.
But the Italian embassy in Rabat indicated that Italy plans to open additional “pop-up” centers across several other Algerian cities in the coming weeks, stressing that the move does not reflect the European country’s stance regarding the Sahara issue.
Read also: Western Sahara: Italy Welcomes Morocco’s Serious, Credible Efforts
“The Italian Embassy would like to clarify that this administrative initiative is in no way related to the Italian position on the Western Sahara issue,” said the statement.
It went on to recall the Declaration on the Multidimensional Strategic Partnership that Morocco and Italy signed in November 2019 in Rabat, in which the two countries defined areas of cooperation as well as addressed several issues of high sensitivity to their strategic interests.
This included Italy’s official position on the Sahara dispute, the embassy noted, stressing that the declaration “reaffirms Italy’s full support to the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to advance the political process, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.”
The statement concluded that “Italy commends the serious and credible efforts made by Morocco within the United Nations framework and encourages all parties to continue their engagement in a spirit of realism and compromise.”
