Tebboune travels discreetly to Portugal
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is on a state visit to Portugal. It was only made public in a very timid manner a few minutes before the presidential plane took off. A visit that did not make the headlines in the Algerian press, contrary to its usual practice of presenting each departure of the head of state as a great act of Algerian diplomacy
Since the last-minute cancellation of his visit to Paris, scheduled for 2 May, the El-Mouradia Palace no longer reports anything about President Tebboune's visits abroad. It was only in the early afternoon, at exactly 2:11 p.m., that the official press agency (APS) announced: "The President of the Republic, Mr Abdelmadjid Tebboune, begins a two-day state visit to the Portuguese Republic on Monday, reads a communiqué from the Presidency of the Republic".
A little over an hour later, at 15h36, the same agency returned with a dispatch announcing that "the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, left Algiers on Monday afternoon for a two-day state visit to Portugal", without further details. Not even the composition of the accompanying delegation. We are satisfied with the usual: "The visit is part of the "strengthening of the historic relations of friendship, cooperation and good neighbourliness between the two countries" and aims to "open up new perspectives and extend these relations to wider areas, in the best interests of the two neighbouring peoples". The website of the Presidency of the Republic is not more detailed.
However, sources close to the Algerian embassy in Lisbon informed us that an Algerian delegation had been in Portugal for almost a week to prepare for the Algerian president's visit. A few days earlier, on 14 May, the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ammar Belani, had received the Portuguese ambassador in Algiers. One might have thought that this was a protest that the Algerian regime wanted to express after Lisbon's support for "the proposal for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty for the Sahara".
Paradoxical as it may seem, the Algerian regime, which tends to become inflamed whenever it supports the Moroccan peace plan for the Sahara, and to cry conspiracy, is planning a state visit less than a fortnight after the Portuguese decision. Is this a change of tactics on the part of a regime that has finally realised its isolation on the international stage and has finally digested its bitter setbacks both in the Arab world and in Europe? In any case, we are far from this violent reaction to Spain's stance on the same issue.
What could Tebboune expect from Portugal?
Not being at all dependent on Algerian gas since the closure of the Maghreb-Europe pipeline, which passed through Morocco and Spain to supply Portugal, Lisbon had made no fuss in reaction to the Algerian decision. In fact, relations between the two countries have been fairly ordinary in recent years. The volume of trade between the two countries is estimated at 450 million euros. Algeria ranks thirtieth on Portugal's list of clients, accounting for a mere 0.5% of total trade between Portugal and other countries. Very insignificant figures.
Many observers question the need for a state visit by an Algerian president to Portugal. Is Tebboune in Portugal to seduce his hosts by showing off his immense dollar reserves, knowing that he is at the head of a country that no longer knows how to invest its huge oil and gas revenues? Will he interest the Portuguese with large investments in a country boycotted by all major investors due to its political instability (five government reshuffles in three years and several movements of diplomatic personnel)? Are the offers Tebboune intends to make to the Portuguese not related to Lisbon's recent stance on the Sahara issue, which is not at all to Algiers' liking? So many questions for any informed observer of the Algerian scene at a time when the Algerian political-military regime has suffered a real affront from the Saudis and the other members of the Arab League whose 32nd summit was held a few days ago, and continues to suffer the reprimands of Washington, which will never forgive it for its alignment with Russia in the Ukrainian conflict.
This visit, desired by Algiers and hastily decided upon, cannot bode well for Tebboune, who, deep down, does not expect much. This explains the timid Algerian media coverage.