Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune once again raised the issue of the Moroccan Sahara in his official talks with Italian officials. He took advantage of his visit to Rome to participate in the fifth bilateral government committee between Algeria and Italy, which culminated in the signing of an agreement covering security, energy, economy, and scientific research.
During a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Tebboune sought to advance his country's separatist argument, emphasizing that both sides"renewed their support for the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in order to reach a just political solution in accordance with international law, enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination," he said.
These statements come at a time when Algerian-European relations are experiencing tensions due to the positive positions expressed by France and Spain regarding the autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco as a final solution to the conflict. This has prompted the Algerian regime to intensify its efforts towards other capitals in an attempt to influence their positions and soften its declared neutrality.
Observers believe that Tebboune's statements are consistent with an Algerian diplomatic approach that relies on conflating political and economic issues and exploiting geopolitical conflicts among European countries in an attempt to attract supportive, or at least non-opposing, positions toward his regional agenda. This is despite Italy's adherence to a balanced position, which does not adopt any of the parties to the conflict and places the issue among secondary priorities on its foreign agenda.
sovereign concessions
Abdelwahab El Kain, President of AfricaWatch, said that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's visit to Italy revealed a new chapter in the sovereign concessions of the Algerian people, in a scene he described as"surreal," where there is renewed dissatisfaction with responding to Algerians' concerns, while there is a pathological insistence on opposing the interests of the Kingdom of Morocco abroad, and an attempt to entice international partners to adopt negative positions regarding the agreed-upon political solution to the issue of the Moroccan Sahara.
Al-Kain added, in a statement to the electronic newspaper Hespress, that the attempt to frame this visit within the context of North African geopolitics and Algeria's tense relations with France and Spain, which have expressed advanced positions in support of the Moroccan autonomy initiative, does not hide the fact that the Algerian-Italian economic summit has become a platform for conveying hostile positions towards Morocco, by illogically mixing it with the Palestinian issue, Sahel and Sahara affairs, and the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, in an attempt to shuffle the cards and achieve temporary diplomatic gains at the expense of political realism.
The deputy coordinator of the Sahrawi NGO Alliance explained that the convening of the high-level bilateral committee between Algeria and Italy comes at a time when Algeria is experiencing stagnation in its international relations and a decline in its diplomatic effectiveness, particularly with regard to its ambiguous positions on the crimes committed against the Palestinians, its failure to join the BRICS group, the lack of any real impact during its current membership in the Security Council, and its entry into open disputes with key powers in the European Union due to its clear support for the separatist thesis.
Al-Kain emphasized that the announcement of the signing of 40 agreements between Algeria and Italy in the fields of trade, industry, and production, as stated at the press conference, raises questions about the usefulness of these agreements for Algerians, especially given the dominance of Italian companies in most sectors covered by the cooperation, and the absence of governance and transparency mechanisms in their management, which leads to the reproduction of the logic of economic dependency in a new form.
The head of AfricaWatch revealed that the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) and the Italian Agency for the Internationalization of Businesses (ICE) had exclusive access to the statistics and areas covered by the agreements. He pointed out that the 23.5% decline in Algerian gas exports allowed Italy to strengthen its position as Algeria's leading partner in the region, surpassing France at a sensitive political moment. This reflects a strategic shift in relations that he fears could lead to a form of"soft colonialism" of Algerian wealth, he said.
Al-Kain continued, saying, “This development in relations between the two countries falls within the context of Italy’s return of the favor to the Algerian army, against the backdrop of the military and political support Rome provided during the 1990s, during the Black Decade that left more than 250,000 dead, tens of thousands of victims, and human rights tragedies that Algeria cannot turn the page on without genuine national reconciliation, including acknowledgment of responsibility, redress for the damage, and guarantees of non-recurrence.”
The same human rights activist noted that statements by Italian officials regarding their desire to play a pivotal role in international affairs and position themselves as a global distributor of Algerian energy confirm that Rome does not place the issue of freedoms and human rights in Algeria within its diplomatic conditions, in clear contradiction with the general orientations of the European Union. He pointed out that “the announced cooperation between the two countries in the fields of hydrocarbons, armaments, renewable energy, agriculture, and modern technologies reflects a tendency to exploit Algeria’s potential without real guarantees for the benefit of the people, with the aim of obstructing Morocco’s progress on the Western Sahara issue and pressuring its European partners.”
Abdelwahab Al-Kain concluded his interview with Hespress by emphasizing that the summit's closing press conference did little more than share general statements about trade agreements, humanitarian issues, and security issues. Meanwhile, President Tebboune, as usual, sought to impose an outdated and outdated agenda on"self-determination," without offering any real commitment to supporting UN efforts or attending the negotiating table. He emphasized that"the Algerian regime continues to rely on allies who have become weaker than ever, in a desperate attempt to revive a separatist project that has lost its legal, political, and humanitarian justifications."
constant hostility
Bibut Dday, a contemporary history researcher interested in the Western Sahara issue, asserted that monitoring Algeria's foreign policy since independence reveals a lack of clarity in its principles and references. He pointed out that"what distinguishes the Algerian political scene is the ongoing wars of physical elimination between the leaders of the revolution, the competition for positions and benefits, and the neutralization of opponents. This raises major questions about who actually governs Algeria: the 'elected' president or the military and security establishment, and the extent of the Algerian people's influence on the country's major choices."
Dday explained that the Algerian regime's efforts to join the BRICS group despite the absence of minimum conditions for this, its engagement in sharp disputes with France and Spain due to their positive positions on the Sahara issue, and its attempt to win over the right-wing Italian government by exploiting its dispute with Paris, reflect a disturbance in the foreign orientations of a regime still governed by the logic of circumstantial calculations. He added that"these attempts reveal a deep-seated sense of inferiority within the Algerian regime in the face of the Moroccan royal firmness and the strength of diplomacy led by King Mohammed VI, which is built on the constants of territorial integrity, the Islamic religion, and the cumulative democratic process that reflects a real engagement with the demands of the Moroccan people."
The spokesman considered President Tebboune's statement regarding expanding the partnership with Italy and embodying it as a firm political will to be surprising, given the regime's absurdity, its disregard for the aspirations of its people, and its use of state resources to appease the influential class. He added that the Italian position, according to his interpretation, is nothing more than an expression of an intention to recover a historical debt due to Rome's previous support for the Algerian authorities during dangerous periods of repression, which raises questions about the continued impunity enjoyed by civilian and military security institutions, despite the gross violations of human rights.
In this regard, Dday noted that the scientific and technological supervision agreements signed with Italy in the fields of water, industry, transportation, culture, and scientific research raise profound questions about the role of Algerian institutions in distributing the benefits of national wealth, rather than inflating a false stereotype among Algerian citizens through slogans of"prestige," which serve to neutralize their capacity for free thought and constructive criticism, thus hindering any genuine democratic transformation.
The contemporary history researcher concluded that the discourse on self-determination and referendums continues to be repeated daily in Algerian intelligence offices, with the goal of instilling a sense of secession in the hearts of the Sahrawis trapped in the Lahmada camps, who yearn for a settlement that respects their dignity and reunites them with their families within the framework of a realistic and lasting political solution that rejects partition plans and consolidates the unity of Moroccan territory.
In concluding his remarks, Dday Bebout warned that Algeria's continued entrenchment behind Cold War slogans and attempts to obstruct the construction of the Greater Maghreb will only lead its people to further isolation and place its fate in the hands of foreign powers, rather than engaging seriously in building a unified Maghreb capable of confronting the security and economic challenges of a changing environment.
