Borrell Urges Algeria to End Dispute with Spain

Tebboune meets with Borrell on Monday. (Algerian presidency)
Tebboune meets with Borrell on Monday. (Algerian presidency)
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Borrell Urges Algeria to End Dispute with Spain

Tebboune meets with Borrell on Monday. (Algerian presidency)
Tebboune meets with Borrell on Monday. (Algerian presidency)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has informed Algerian officials about EU's desire to find “an urgent solution” to the dispute between Algeria and Spain. 

Meanwhile, the Non-Aligned Movement plans on holding a meeting in Algeria next summer, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced Sunday.

Tebboune met with Borrell at the Presidential Palace, the Algerian presidency revealed in a statement without giving further details.

Meanwhile, political sources said that Borrell stressed the significance of resuming ties between EU member Spain and Algeria.

Algeria has expressed objection over Madrid’s bias to a Moroccan proposal for autonomy in Western Sahara, and decided to freeze trade with Spain.

Discussions between Borrell and Tebboune covered the Western Sahara dispute, and the Palestinian cause, political sources said.

They added that the Algerian President affirmed that Algiers stands for the right of Sahara residents to determine their fate through a UN-organized referendum and the right of the Palestinians to establish their state.

The talks also tackled the situation in Libya and Mali.

Borrell discussed this matter thoroughly with Prime Minister Aamene Benabderrahman during their meeting on Sunday.

The EU official told Algeria’s El Khabar newspaper that the EU countries view as “unfortunate” the “serious obstacles” that Algeria has been imposing since June 2022 on trade with Spain. The obstacles exempt gas exports.

“This situation is quite detrimental to the association agreement and serves no one’s interest,” he remarked.

In another context, Tebboune announced during a press conference with Uganda's President that the Non-Aligned Movement countries would hold a meeting in Algeria this summer.

Algeria and Uganda signed two agreements and five memorandums of understanding (MoUs).

Tebboune affirmed the preparedness of Algeria to exchange expertise with Uganda in energy, tourism, food industries, higher education, and scientific research.

The President further congratulated Museveni for the oil discoveries in his country which could “contribute to reinforcing the partnership between the two countries in energy”.

For his part, Museveni stressed that Algeria is a “reliable partner”.

He noted that there is a possibility of launching cooperation projects in petrochemicals, fuels, and refining stations, especially in Uganda following the oilfield discoveries.



Israel Closes 6 UN Schools for Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israel Closes 6 UN Schools for Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israel permanently closed six UN schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.

Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate, The Associated Press reported.

The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.

UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.

The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.

In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.