Spain warns Algeria is increasingly aligned with Russia

MADRID, June 13 (Reuters) – Algeria’s decision to suspend a bilateral friendship treaty with Spain last week was not surprising because the country is increasingly aligning itself with Russia, Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Monday.

Calvino said she had noticed a growing rapprochement between Algeria and Russia at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund a few weeks ago.

“I saw back then that Algeria was more and more aligned with Russia, so this (decision to suspend the treaty) didn’t surprise me,” Calvino said in a radio interview with Radio Catalunya.

Algeria suspended a 20-year-old friendship treaty with Spain, after it was angered when Spain said in March it supported a Moroccan plan to offer autonomy to Western Sahara. Algeria backs the Polisario Front movement seeking full independence for the territory, which Morocco regards as its own and mostly controls.

The decision to block Algerian trade with Spain following a diplomatic row over Western Sahara could be a violation of European Union trade law, two senior EU officials said on Friday.

Photo – Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino . EPA-EFE/Zipi