Algeria introduces visa for Moroccans as mistrust grows between the neighbors

The Algerian Foreign ministry announced on Thursday (Sep. 26) the reintroduction with immediate effrct of a visa for holders of a Moroccan passport.

The ministry notably cites “destabilization actions” and the organization of “human and drug-trafficking, espionage and the deployment of Zionist agents.”

The end of the visa exemption regime for Moroccans is the latest proof of degrading relations between the neighbour countries.

The nations broke off diplomatic ties in 2021. Algiers said it didn’t impose a visa back then because it sought to uphold “its values of solidarity given the family ties that unite two brother peoples.”

The main bone of contention is Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara, and its policy to make its autonomy plan gain support.

The United Nations has continued to regard Madrid as the colonial administrative power for Western Sahara, even after its annexation by Morocco immediately after Spain abandoned its African province in 1975. Over the years, the Spanish government’s official position, along with the European Union’s, has been to support a U.N.-sponsored referendum to settle the territory’s decolonization.

However, Morocco’s has successfully traded and ultimately swayed the diplomatic stances of countries like Spain or the US.

Algeria coninues to back the Polisario Front, the political party which seeks to obtain the recognition of th Sahraoui people’s right to self-determination.