First Independent Mena Newspaper
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has proposed to appoint former Islamist figure and aid, Abdelwahab Derbal, as the chairman of the High Independent Election Monitoring Body. In line with the new constitution adopted in February, the Algerian President appoints the chairman of the body, which will replace the much criticized “National Commission of election Supervision” and “National […]
Libya’s UN-backed unity government Thursday rejected the European Union call for the creation of a migrant camp in Libya in a move to curb and control floods of migrants trying perilous trips to join countries of the 28-member block. Since 2011, following the fall of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan coasts have been departure points […]
The European Union is moving to scale up the bloc’s financial assistance to Tunisia, as proposed by its foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Mogherini proposed in Brussels on Thursday to double the assistance, currently estimated at €170 million per annum, to enable the North African country to focus on youth employment, social development and assistance […]
The Europe Union commission did not congratulate Ai Bongo for his re-election as it cast doubt on the fairness of the constitutional court, which, it said, failed to treat fairly complaints filed by the opposition, reports say. Federica Mogherini, EU’s foreign policy Chief, joined the EU’s election observers in Gabon in criticizing the handling of […]
Algeria’s ambiguity and its suspicious role in the fight against terrorism were raised during the meeting of Presidents and Speakers of Parliaments from the 47 Council of Europe member states, held on September 15-16 in Strasbourg. The remarks made at the Congress signal a growing confidence crisis between Algiers and the EU regarding the fight […]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Advocate-General, Melchior Wathelet, contested the court’s ruling on December 10, 2015 -which partially annulled the Morocco-EU Agricultural Agreement- on grounds that the Polisario is “not entitled to defend the commercial interests of the population of the Sahara.” The ECJ’s Chief Advocate General challenged, in an opinion piece, the court’s […]
Following the death of the long-serving Polisario ringleader Mohamed Abdelaziz, his family is believed to have left the Tindouf camps (southern Algeria) to live in Spain, according to press reports. Such a move has raised many questions over the reasons behind such relocation. Is it voluntary or compulsory? It is a sign of a rift […]
Supporters of opposition candidate Jean Ping set fire to parts of the National Assembly Wednesday afternoon soon after the Interior Minister declared incumbent President Ali Bongo winner of Saturday presidential election, judged by EU as non-transparent. Ali Bongo in power since 2009 has been credited with 49.80 per cent of the votes against 48.23 per […]
Polisario proponents at the European Parliament have suffered a new setback with the rejection of an amendment to include a new aid to the Algerian-based separatist group in the 2017 EU draft budget. Three extreme left MEPs presented the amendment to add 150 million euros in support of the Polisario sugarcoating their arguments with defending […]
EU officials are looking to Algeria as a partner that can help Europe reduce dependency on Russian gas and better manage migration flows in the southern Mediterranean, but uncertainties at the helm of the Algerian regime represent a major obstacle, Politico writes in an article citing several EU officials well versed in Algerian affairs. The […]