Spain has abandoned its long-held neutrality and tilted in favour of Morocco
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskOn March 18th Spain abandoned its long-held neutrality and tilted in favour of Morocco. Its prime minister called Morocco’s plan to give the Saharans autonomy within the kingdom “the most serious, realistic and credible”. TheMorocco’s diplomatic success is partly thanks to its mischief-making.
The energy crisis should have given Algeria some leverage. It is southern Europe’s closest big source of hydrocarbons. Pipelines link it to Spain and Italy. Europeans worry that Russia may use its influence in Algeria and eastern Libya to gain control over supplies to southern as well as eastern Europe. But Algeria is in a bind. It needs European revenue and Western finance to expand production. And its ageing generals are paralysed by infighting.
Still, the struggle is not over. Spain stopped short of fully recognising the kingdom’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Though Morocco has agreed to stop the flow of migrants for now, relations with Spain are still dogged by rows over Morocco’s port expansion along its Mediterranean coast and the pittance theMeanwhile the kingdom continues to create “facts on the ground”. Its settlers now outnumber local Saharans three to one. Officials from the north often get the best land.
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