Algeria has decided to call its ambassador in Madrid to queries with “immediate” effect after the declarations of the highest Spanish authorities and his “sudden change” position on the Sahara, reported this Saturday the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The note explains that the Algerian Foreign Ministry has been “very surprised” by support from Spain to the autonomy project Morocco for the Sahara, for which it has decided to call its ambassador in Madrid “for consultations with immediate effect”.
On Friday, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stated that Spain considers Morocco’s 2007 plan for Saharan autonomy to be “the most serious, realistic and credible basis” for the “resolution” of the conflict.
The announcement of Spain’s new position was initially made on Friday by the Moroccan royal cabinet and was later confirmed by the Spanish government, and it a change in Spain’s position regarding the future of the Saharaformer Spanish colony.
Until now, Spain defended the UN agreements to hold a referendum in the Sahara, to determine the political future of this territory and of the Saharawi people, who since 1975 he has been in refugee camps In Argelia.
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The new Spanish position has also been harshly criticized by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the Polisario Front, which in a statement deplored the “regrettable decision” taken by Spain in supporting the autonomy initiative proposed in 2007 by Morocco.
Algeria’s reaction by calling its ambassador in Madrid for consultation opens a new chapter in relations between Spain and Algeria, main supplier of gas to the Iberian Peninsula and that it has always supported the struggle of the Saharawi people for the celebration of a self-determination referendum since in 1975 Moroccan troops occupied a territory that until that year was a Spanish colony, reports Efe.