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.



Syria Expects First Transfer with US Bank 'Within Weeks'

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
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Syria Expects First Transfer with US Bank 'Within Weeks'

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo

Syria expects to have its first transaction with a US bank "in a matter of weeks", Syrian central bank governor Abdelkader Husriyeh said on Thursday, a day after a high-level meeting between Syrian and US commercial banks.

The resumption of transfers between Syrian and US banks would be a key milestone in the push by Syria’s new rulers to reintegrate the country into the global financial system after 14 years of civil war, Reuters reported.

Husriyeh on Wednesday held a virtual conference bringing together Syrian banks, several US banks and US officials, including Washington's Syria Envoy Thomas Barrack, with the aim of speeding up the reconnection of Syria's banking system to the global financial system.

This follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement in May that all sanctions on Syria would be lifted. That has been followed up with executive orders formally lifting some of the measures.

Syria's reintegration into the global financial system would be a major step towards enabling the kind of large financial transactions needed to kickstart its reconstruction and economic activity, and help rein in a highly informal, cash-based economy.

Husriyeh extended a formal invitation to US banks to re-establish correspondent banking ties following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose crackdown on 2011 protests resulted in Western countries imposing one of the world’s strictest sanctions regimes.

"We have two clear targets: have US banks set up representative offices in Syria and have transactions resume between Syrian and American banks. I think the latter can happen in a matter of weeks," Husriyeh told Reuters.

Among the banks invited to Wednesday’s conference were JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and CitiBank, though it was not immediately clear who attended.