"Unacceptable" the Algerian president denounces the shift in Spain's position on the Sahara region

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune considered that the shift in Spain's position on the issue of the Sahara is "morally and historically unacceptable," stressing at the same time that his country "will not abandon its commitment to supplying Spain with gas."

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Saturday evening that the shift in Spain's position on the issue of the Sahara region is "morally and historically unacceptable."

On March 18, Spain radically changed its position on the Sahara crisis.

After its commitment to neutrality regarding the region, the Spanish government publicly supported Morocco's proposal to grant the region autonomy under its sovereignty, and Algeria "astonished" the "sudden coup" in the Spanish position and summoned its ambassador to Madrid after that.

In an interview with national media, Tebboune denounced the Spanish decision, saying that Algeria "has good relations with Spain", but the recent position of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the issue "changed everything."

He added, "We will not interfere in Spain's internal affairs, but Algeria, as an observer country in the file of the Sahara region, as well as the United Nations, considers Spain the managing force of the region as long as a solution is not reached" to this conflict.

Tebboune added, "We demand the application of international law so that relations with Spain return to normal, which should not abandon its historical responsibility, as it is required to review itself."

At the same time, the Algerian president stressed that his country "will not abandon its commitment to supplying Spain with gas, whatever the circumstances," and Spain relies heavily on Algeria for gas supplies.

And at the beginning of this month, the Algerian public oil and gas group "Sonatrach" said that it does not rule out an "review" of the price of gas exported to Spain, in the context of diplomatic tension between Algeria and Madrid.

"Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, gas and oil prices have exploded," Sonatrach's CEO, Taoufik Hakkar, said. "Algeria has decided to maintain the contractual prices that are relatively appropriate with all its customers, but it is not excluded that an audit of prices will be carried out with Our Spanish client.

In a shift in its position on the issue of the Sahara region, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alparis announced last March that his country "considers the autonomy initiative presented in 2007 by Morocco as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving the dispute over the Sahara."

In 1975, the conflict between Morocco and the Polisario over the Sahara region began after the Spanish occupation ended its presence in the region, turning the dispute into an armed conflict that lasted until 1991 when the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Rabat insists on its right to the Sahara region and proposes expanded autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario demands the organization of a referendum for self-determination, a proposal supported by Algeria, which hosts refugees from the region.