On Italy’s double speak on Sahara issue

Italy’s embassy in Rabat has issued a statement reiterating its stand in favor of a UN solution to the Sahara issue, while dismissing Algeria’s news reports which interpreted the opening of a visa processing center in Tindouf as a sign of support to the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists.

In the statement, the Italian embassy said the country was bound by a declaration signed with Morocco in 2019, according to which Rome supports Morocco’s efforts to resolve the issue within the UN framework.

It also explained that the recently opened visa processing center in Tindouf was a pop-up visa processing center to be operational for two months in order to make it easier for applicants.

The statement came in response to an earlier statement by the Italian embassy in Algeria which commented on the opening of the visa processing center by the ambassador to Algiers mentioning the presence of “the Sahrawi community.”

Italy’s Algiers embassy issued a statement that smells of Algerian gas as the European country becomes dependent on Algerian supplies making it prey to pressure on the Sahara issue.

Algeria’s regime mouthpiece APS said the opening of the center was a sign of “Italy’s solidarity with the Sahrawi cause and the camps’ refugees.”

Italy’s embassy in Morocco said the “pop up” center will be followed by similar centers across Algeria.

Some analysts argue that Algeria was seeking more western consulates in Tindouf following the example of Morocco’s success in attracting consulates by nearly half African states to the Sahara cities of Laayoune and Dakhla.

Tindouf and other areas in what has become western Algeria are referred to in Morocco as the eastern Sahara, large swathes of historically Moroccan territory amputated by French colonialism and attached to what used to be called French Algeria.

As the Sahara issue nears its final settlement following Morocco’s military and diplomatic inroads, Algeria fears that its artificial borders and rule over areas such as Tindouf is at stake. Officially Morocco has made no claim yet to Tindouf but its parliament has not ratified the border treaty leaving uncertainties over its eastern border demarcation.