Demonstrators wave Western Sahara flags during a protest against the Spanish government support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, in Madrid, on March 26, 2022. Western Sahara is designated by the UN as a "non-self-governing territory" whose people "have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". Morocco controls 80 percent of the territory, while the rest –an area bordering Mauritania that is almost totally landlocked – is run by the Polisario Front. (PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
Algeria deplores and rejects "hasty" EU comments after its decision to suspend a 20-year-old friendship treaty with Spain, Ennahar TV reported on Saturday, quoting the foreign ministry.
Algiers 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.
ALSO READ: Algeria suspends Spain treaty, bars imports over Western Sahara
