After repeated efforts by Brussels to persuade Algeria’s top leadership to lift sanctions on European companies ended in failure, the European Union has moved to initiate arbitration proceedings. Taken aback, Algiers expressed its «surprise» at the EU’s decision on Thursday.
After losing several of the Polisario’s traditional allies across Africa, Algeria is eager to prevent South Africa from taking the same path. In response to Jacob Zuma’s recent stance on the Western Sahara issue, Algerian authorities have sent envoys to Pretoria.
Amid today’s tangled geopolitical landscape, some alliances of convenience say more about a state's true priorities than its rhetoric. The recent convergence between former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and the Algerian regime over Western Sahara is a telling example.