Algeria had not been courted like this for ages. “The compass of international diplomacy has been pointing in one direction for the past month: Algiers”, the daily was even carried away Expression, close to power. In a few days, the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Italian President of the Council Mario Draghi and the head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian have succeeded each other in the White City.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the time has come for general mobilization to find Europe alternative gas suppliers to Russia. And too bad if we have to turn to traditional friends of Moscow, such as Algeria, forever grateful for Soviet support during the war of independence. For its part, torn between Moscow and its European partners, Algiers is trying to hold its own.
“Algerian diplomacy is always in search of the middle position, the happy medium, analyzes Louisa Dris-Aït Hamadouche, professor at the University of Political Sciences of Algiers. In the name of its historical non-alignment, it tries to play on both tables to preserve its interests with Russia as well as with Europe.” Hence his abstention, on March 2, during the vote on the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations condemning “the aggression against Ukraine”, then the “no” of Algiers to the suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council of this organization.
Enough not to anger the Kremlin or completely alienate the Europeans. Algeria cannot afford it: Italy, France and Spain are its top three customers. And the president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, does not intend to miss the opportunity to sell more gas to Europeans to bail out the coffers of the State, which have been dry since the oil crisis in 2014. On a whirlwind visit to Algiers, Mario Draghi signed an agreement on April 11 for the supply of an additional 9 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Two days later, Jean-Yves Le Drian followed in his footsteps, without a contract at the moment.
Deterrent arsenal
Did this diplomatic parade annoy Vladimir Putin? Still, Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s phone did not take long to ring. At the end of the line, on April 18, the Russian president. The call was most friendly, according to the press release from the Algerian presidency. The two men celebrated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between their countries and “their satisfaction with the progress made by bilateral cooperation”. On Ukraine, they underlined “the importance of a political solution”.
Several observers, however, suspect pressure from the tenant of the Kremlin, horrified to see his friend helping Europeans to do without his gas. “Putin wants to show Westerners that he also has links in Africa and Asia; Algeria is not the least and has the capacity to cause harm,” said Kader Abderrahim, author of Geopolitics of Algeria (Bibliomonde, 2020).
Russia is not short of arguments, given its weight in the Algerian military system, which constitutes the heart of power. Moscow is by far the leading supplier of military equipment to Algeria – which imported 81% of its equipment from Russia between 2017 and 2021 -, and devotes no less than 6.5% of GDP to its defense budget, after a recent French parliamentary report.
“The Algerian Navy has become more professional, explains its co-author, MP (MoDem) Philippe Michel-Kleisbauer. It now has six submarines equipped with Russian missiles and has the ability to create a denial of access in the Strait of Gibraltar. .” A real threat, as this 14 kilometer wide passage separating Spain from Morocco – the great rival of Algiers – is strategic for world trade.
This primarily dissuasive arsenal certainly weighs in Algeria’s balance of power with Europe, at a time when the latter is eyeing its hydrocarbons. “Given its limited production capacities, for lack of sufficient investment, Algerian gas can only be a partial alternative”, however moderates the Algerian economist Abderrahmane Hadef. Something to reassure Vladimir Putin and allow his counterpart to maintain the fragile balance between his partners… without having to choose sides.