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Algeria has reportedly canceled Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares’ previously scheduled visit to Algiers at the last minute due to his refusal to discuss the Western Sahara dispute.
In a report on Tuesday, the website El Confidential quoted sources familiar with the canceled trip as saying that Albares demanded that talks with Algerian officials not include the Western Sahara dispute.
This is not the first time that the top Spanish diplomat’s visit to Algeria has been canceled at the last minute due to deepening divergences on the Sahara dispute.
Earlier this month, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited scheduling reasons on the Algerian side when announcing the canceling of an Albares visit to Algiers. ,
Tellingly, however, the ministry’s statement did not provide any specific reasons for the postponement.
In the wake of the Spanish statement, several reports by both the Algerian and Spanish media indicated that the decision to cancel Albares’ visit was due to political divergences on the Western Sahara dispute.
Algeria, which hosts the Polisario Front in the Tindouf camps, supports the separatist group’s c independence claims in Western Sahara region in southern Morocco.
The Algerian regime also finances and arms the separatist group in challenging Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces.
On the other hand, Spain endorses Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible political solution to end the dispute – a frustrating and unacceptable position for the Algerian regime.
Read also: Spain Reaffirms Support for Moroccan Autonomy Plan in Sahara Dispute
Since 2022, when Spain first publicly announced its change of heart on the Sahara to wholeheartedly embrace the Moroccan stance, Algeria has been active in lobbying against the deepening Madrid-Rabat rapprochement. In particular, Algiers has repeatedly urged Spain to reverse its Sahara position in line with Algiers’ Morocco-bashing campaign.
As part of this campaign, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Madrid and ended a 20-year-long friendship treaty with the European country.
It was only in recent months that Algeria signaled a desire to improve diplomatic ties with Spain.
The Algerian regime appointed a new ambassador to Spain last November, hoping to end the months-long diplomatic crisis with Madrid.
Yet Spain’s increasingly unwavering support for Morocco and its autonomy initiative has continued frustrate Algeria.
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Morocco with Albares to reiterate Madrid’s support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan.
“The Spanish government reaffirms the Joint Declaration approved in 2022. In this declaration, which we endorsed during last year’s high-level meeting between the governments of Morocco and Spain, my position on what the international community’s approach should be regarding the Western Sahara is clearly outlined,” Sanchez said.
