BRUSSELS, March 13 () –
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, urged Algeria on Monday to resolve the crisis with Spain, insisting that it is in the common interest of the EU and Algeria to overcome this clash, allow more European investment and develop the potential of trade relations with the EU.
In a statement from Algiers where he is on his first visit as head of community diplomacy, Borrell has insisted that the European bloc and the Maghreb country “can do better” to improve trade relations.
“We must start by finding a solution to the current limits, I think, for example, to the commercial obstacles introduced since June 2022 to commercial exchanges with Spain to which a solution must be found,” he pointed out.
In this way, the High Representative has urged the Algerian authorities to address the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship by Algiers last June. This step was followed by the order to stop banking transactions, later reversed. Both decisions affected Spain’s trade with the North African country, for which reason Spain requested the intervention of Brussels.
Spain acknowledged at the beginning of January that there were still problems with some commercial operations and that, when this happened, the Government was notifying the European Commission, the only one with the capacity to act on this issue.
In this sense, Borrell has also pointed out the obstacles to European investments that have an impact on the development of the association agreement between the EU and Algeria, for which he has summarized that putting an end to these disputes is in the “common interest” of Brussels and Algiers, after recalling that 56 percent of exports and 43 percent of imports from Algeria are to the EU.
During his visit, the head of Foreign Affairs of the EU was able to meet with the Algerian Prime Minister, Aimene Benabderrahmane.
