‘No One Should Dictate’ Who Algeria’s Friends Are, Expert Says in Response to US Sanctions Calls
18:11 GMT 10.10.2022 (Updated: 13:05 GMT 14.11.2022)
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When Algeria was isolated on the global stage after winning independence in 1962, Moscow provided them with essential technical aid in industry, mining, and defense that helped the new nation rebuild after over a century of French colonial rule and a brutal liberation war.
A group of US lawmakers have demanded the Biden administration sanction Algiers for buying Russian weapons, part of an ongoing effort to punish nations for having relations with Moscow.
Last month, US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to sanction Algeria under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). He noted that Algiers is “among the top four purchasers of Russian arms worldwide,” including a deal penned last year that was reportedly worth $7 billion.
“There is no sugarcoating it, Algeria’s growing relationship with Russia poses a threat to every nation across the globe,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) said in a letter to Blinken sent last week and co-signed by 27 lawmakers.
Algeria’s relationship with Moscow goes back to independence in 1962, when the Algerian National Liberation Front emerged victorious in an eight-year war against France, which had ruled the North African country since the 1830s. The NLF was part of a network of anti-colonial movements across Africa and Asia, and became friends with various socialist states supporting revolution in the capitalist colonies, including the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, China, and Cuba.
Armored vehicles are driven during a military parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence in Algiers, capital of Algeria, on July 5, 2022. Algeria on Tuesday held a grand military parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence from French colonialism, with the attendance of senior local and foreign officials.
However, Algiers didn’t join the socialist camp, despite its own leftist politics, and instead became an important member of the Non-Aligned Movement. It has continued to have relations with France, including hosting French President Emmanuel Macron last week and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne this week for talks on expanding economic cooperation ranging from industry and gas deals to tourism.
“Algeria is entitled to have relations with the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia and all the states that make up the international community, and no one should dictate to Algeria with whom it should maintain relations or not," Abdelkader Soufi, teacher-researcher in geopolitics at the University of Blida II in Algeria, told Sputnik Afrique on Monday.
"Russia has been a special partner with Algeria in difficult times, and Algeria has always known how to recognize its friends," Soufi said, adding that the country is acquiring means of defense "to guarantee its security and its existence," because "to have peace you have to prepare for war."
"Algeria is entitled to position itself as an actor in the new world order which is taking shape more and more after the special operation" in Ukraine, Soufi said.
Indeed, Algeria’s chief rival in the region, Morocco, is a major US ally and weapons recipient. In 2020, US weapons sales to Rabat doubled over the previous year, to more than $8 billion, according to Morocco World News. However, by 2019, Morocco was already the largest buyer of US weapons on the planet.
