The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has assured that the Government is studying “the scope” of the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Vendility and Cooperation announced by Algeria due to the change of position of Spain on the Western Sahara and has advocated giving a “calmer, constructive and firm” responseaccording to the “interests of Spain”.
Albares will travel to Brussels this Friday to meet with the vice-president of the Commission and commissioner responsible for EU trade policy, Valdis Dombrovskis, in the midst of the crisis with Algeria, as RTVE has been able to confirm.
“We have to analyze this measure, what it entails, what it implies at the national and European level and give the appropriate response so that the interests of Spain are defended“, has advanced this Thursday in statements to the media after Algeria decided on Wednesday to break relations with Spain.
Albares already regretted the Algerian decision on Wednesday and assured that the gas supply was not at risk because Algeria was a reliable partner. Later it became known that the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Establishments (ABEF) of Algeria ordered the freezing of direct debits related to foreign trade operations of products and services to and from our country.
Albares assures that the Government will give a “calm and firm response” to Algeria after the break in relations
He reiterates that there are no problems with Algerian gas
This Thursday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has once again reiterated that currently “there is no problem” with the flow of gas. “What the gas companies convey to us is that there is no difficulty with respect to this measure for this to continue to be the case,” he added.
Reference has also been made to the words of the President of Algeria, Abdelmadijd Tebboune, who on April 24 stated that the gas supply to Spain was guaranteed.
Meanwhile, the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has trusted that Algerian companies comply with the “obligations” stipulated in gas sales contracts that are in force and have signed with Spanish companies and regretted that the “good relationship with Morocco” harms the relationship with Algeria.
In any case, the minister has called for “prudence” and to ensure that the hypothesis of having to resort to the courts and international arbitration mechanisms to demand compliance with contracts does not materialize.
For his part, Albares has expressed the Government’s desire to “have the best relations with Algeria”, but has vindicated that they remain under the premises of the Treaty of Friendship that indicates that Relations between the two countries must be based on “sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs and mutual respect.”
Asked if there have already been diplomatic contacts with Algeria, the head of Spanish diplomacy did not want to reveal anything and has appealed to “discretion”.
Bolaños defines that the break “is not definitive”
On the other hand, the Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, has defended that “it is not final” the suspension of the friendship and cooperation treaty with Algeria and has assured that the Government will try to “reestablish” the relationship “with all diplomatic means”.
“We are sorry that you have been discontinued, but it is necessary to differentiate between breaking the treaty, denouncing it as it is technically said and suspending it. Just like at the time other decisions they made that are not final,” he stressed this Thursday in statements to Antena 3.
However, Bolaños has affirmed that the Government will continue working to “rebuild” relations with Algeria “as soon as possible”. “We want to have a normalized, loyal relationship and that is what we are at,” she added.
To questions from journalists, several ministers regretted Algeria’s response and stressed that the government “is working to redirect the situation.” The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has indicated that the situation “will not affect security, where work is permanent.”