Gustavo de Arístegui is a Spanish diplomat and politician. He is the former ambassador of Spain in India. Sánchez's recognition of "the serious and credible efforts of Morocco in the framework of the UN to seek a mutually acceptable solution" and maintains that the autonomy initiative is "the most serious and realistic basis" for the resolution of this conflict, has provoked the indignation of the Government of Algeria that has decided to withdraw its ambassador from Madrid.
Gustavo de Arístegui speaks about the way in which the Spanish Government has handled this situation. In Herrera en COPE, the Spanish diplomat and former politician Gustavo de Arístegui assures that “I understand the criticisms that are made by both analysts, media directors, commentators, critics for not having consulted the opposition on an issue of such great importance for Spain's foreign policy, for peace and security in the Sahel, which is essential for the entire world. But it is such an extraordinarily complex and delicate issue that the negotiations had to be conducted in the utmost discretion”.
Gustavo said that a leak would have generated a debate that could have derailed the agreement between the two countries. There are two sides to that criticism. “In terms of, basically, it is quite clear that the world has changed a lot, that the evolution of the geopolitical situation in this region of the world and in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic has varied, in many cases, 180º, that the risks are infinitely more serious for peace and stability in Europe and the Mediterranean in the Maghreb than in the 1970s, that there are forces with an extraordinary destabilizing capacity, terrorist groups in the Sahel, Boko Haram itself, which is increasingly attacking targets further afield north and obviously in these circumstances, peace, security and stability in the Maghreb is essential”, Gustavo explained.
Gustavo de Arístegui also said that we forget the exemplary role of Algeria in the fight against jihadism. “For many years Algeria has been the world vanguard in the fight against jihadism, paying a very high price of thousands and thousands of lives of soldiers and civilians, in its own defence, but also in defense of peace in Europe”, he said.
Regarding relations with Algeria, Gustavo de Arístegui said that they should be serious and discreet. “We will have to believe the Foreign Minister when he says that he has fluid contact with his Algerian counterpart, but it does not seem that Algeria could do less than call its ambassador for consultation on a question so important to them for decades. We hope that Spain and Algeria know how to redirect the edges and the tensions that derive from this decision, which I believe is a decision that I believe had to be taken” affirms Gustavo de Arístegui.
The geopolitical importance cannot be forgotten Gustavo says, “obviously the US considers Morocco a close ally in the region, Morocco's close relations with the state of Israel, and all economic considerations. Let us not forget that Spain is Morocco's leading trading partner in absolute terms and that the EU is the leading destination for Moroccan products, two thirds of Moroccan products go to the European Union and 42% of those products stay in Spain”, Gustavo de Arístegui points out.
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