Serbia inflicted a scathing response to Algeria in just days after receiving its head of diplomacy. Indeed, after having sent its Minister of Foreign Affairs to Serbia during his first trip abroad to discuss the Sahara issue while trying to play on Serbian sensitivity, Algeria has just been humiliated.
On June 21, Algerian Minister Ahmed Attaf attempted to draw a dubious parallel between the Sahara affair and Kosovo, two completely separate and different issues. He sought to play on the sensitivity of the Serbs vis-à-vis Kosovo, which declared its independence in 2008, and is inhabited by 1.9 million Albanian Muslims.
“You know very well our positions vis-à-vis sensitive issues for your country, particularly the question of Kosovo. In our region, there is also the question of Western Sahara which directly influences the destabilization of the whole region. The non-settlement of the file has hindered and continues to hinder the realization of a regional integration beneficial to our countries”, declared Attaf during a press conference with Ivica Dačić, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Algerian minister also said confidently: “We have a convergence of views on all international issues”.
At the end of this meeting, the Algerian diplomacy even welcomed the “convergence of positions of principle concerning issues of major interest to both countries, in particular the Kosovo crisis and the question of Western Sahara”.
According to Attaf, these two files result from “the transgression of the principle of the sanctity of borders for Kosovo and the principle of respect for borders inherited from colonization for Western Sahara”.
On Monday, following a telephone conversation between Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dačić, Serbia reiterated its support for Morocco’s territorial integrity, as well as its “position of principle against secessionism and separatism”.
The head of Serbian diplomacy also reiterated “Serbia’s support for the efforts of the United Nations to achieve a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution to the Sahara issue, in a spirit of realism and compromise, and in full respect of the relevant UN resolutions” , said a statement from the Serbian Foreign Ministry.
Likewise, the Serbian Minister expressed “its gratitude to Morocco for its constant and firm support for the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, in accordance with international law”.
Serbia’s position is unanimous in supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco and in 2018 already, the same minister clearly expressed it.
With the erroneous media outlets, Algeria and its minister Ahmed Attaf, not only made a fool of themselves since Serbia’s response strongly supported Morocco and its Sahara, but between the lines, Belgrade considers that Algeria and its creation, the polisario, are actors of separatism.
Worse, Algeria, which sides with Serbia and claims not to recognize Kosovo, is also losing credibility on the international scene and showing the inconstancy of its positions.
Algiers claims to be a country that defends Islam and the Islamic Umma while the Muslim Kosovars have suffered the pangs of the bloody war waged by Serbia, however the Algerian regime has chosen to lick Serbia’s boots.
It is moreover this argument of the so-called “Defence of Islam” which has been used by Algeria to attack Morocco since the resumption of diplomatic ties with Israel.