Algeria guaranteed yesterday that it will continue to supply gas to Spain in a statement issued by its embassy to the European Union just three hours after Brussels closed ranks with Madrid in the open crisis with this Maghreb country.
The Algerian statement responded to the severe note issued by the community authorities that indicated that Algeria's decision to suspend commercial relations with Spain could constitute a violation of the agreements that unite Algeria with the European Union.
In the reply, the North African country considers the European note hasty "without prior consultation or any verification with the Algerian Government." In addition to ensuring the continuity of gas supply, the note also suggests, somewhat cryptically, that trade relations with Spain are not even formally suspended. That decision, the note points out, "only exists in the minds of those who claim it and those who have rushed to stigmatize it."
Algeria thus came out against the warnings from the leadership of the European Commission after meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, less than 24 hours after the outbreak of the crisis, on Wednesday.
A joint statement from the Vice President of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, head of the Trade portfolio, and Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, warned yesterday that the instructions – now denied – from Algiers to financial institutions to stop the transactions with Spain "appear to violate the EU-Algeria Association Agreement and, in particular, in the area of trade and investment." In the forceful document, Brussels warned that it will act to "deal with any type of coercive measures against a member state."
After meeting with Dombrovskis, a Latvian and member of the European conservative family, Albares celebrated the "total harmony" between the leadership of the community institutions and the position of the Government. "What Spain and the EU propose is a quick return to dialogue and friendly relations" with Algeria, he said. "Although the measure is directed against Spain, it affects the single market and the economic and commercial relations of the EU", he reiterated before the press at the gates of the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Executive.
The idea that attacking Spain is like attacking the EU is the argument that the Government used last summer to react to the migratory crisis caused by Morocco in Ceuta.
The minister avoided referring to the measures that Brussels could adopt if Algiers does not rectify ("we are not going to give any excuse for an escalation" of the crisis, "we are not going to advance scenarios", he said), but pointed out that the Commission, as responsible for the international trade competencies, has "tools and instruments" to deal with the situation.
Indeed, Brussels trusts that political pressure will work and it will not have to resort to long and complicated commercial arbitration procedures, which do not respond to the immediacy with which it wants to contain and resolve this crisis.
There is no precedent for a similar conflict between the European Union and a country with which there is an association agreement, but community sources point out that the situation is reminiscent of the pressure that China is exerting on Lithuania after the Baltic state authorized the opening of a delegation of the Government of Taiwan in Vilnius. However, while in this case, which Brussels has elevated to the World Trade Organization, Beijing has chosen to very subtly hinder trade with that country, the explicit orders given by the Algerian government to financial institutions to stop Transactions with Spain would make the EU's case against Algiers easier, the aforementioned sources point out.
But the formal way of resolving commercial conflicts is not the preferred way in Brussels to resolve this crisis. “Algeria is an important partner for the EU in the Mediterranean and a key actor for regional stability. We are confident that, on behalf of our strong and long-standing partnership, a speedy solution will be found to fully restore trade and investment relations," the statement said.
Albares remained firm that the suspension of the friendship treaty responds to "a unilateral decision" of the Algerian Government and, regarding the possible impact of the decision to align with Morocco in the conflict over the Sahara, denied that the Executive of Pedro Sánchez " have done anything” that affects him. "You don't have to mix things up," he insisted and asked for mutual respect. Has the complex global geopolitical moment, with the war in Ukraine and Moscow's search for alliances in the Maghreb, weighed on the unprecedented passage of Algeria? “I don't want to go into conjecture or speculation, although it seems legitimate for you to do so...”, he concluded.
