Algerian President: Dialogue with people is reasonable path forward in Mali, Algeria remains brotherly country
Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, deplored the situation in Mali, calling on the country’s authorities to engage in dialogue with their people, while emphasizing the fraternal ties between Algeria and Mali.
“We are sorry about what is happening in Mali. It was not a prophecy, but we knew things would deteriorate because Mali had entered a phase that could only lead to destabilization,” stated the President of the Republic during his periodic interview with national media representatives, broadcast on Saturday evening on national television and radio channels.
He added that “the path of reason, is … to engage in dialogue with one’s people and, even if the takeover of power is not constitutional, to try constitutionalize it.”
The President of the Republic further emphasized that “Algeria has never, and will never interfere, in the internal affairs of Mali or any other country.” He deplored the fact that “some individuals who have failed at the national level” are seeking to find a scapegoat, notably by making accusations against Algeria. “Algeria has always been a brotherly country to Mali,” he stressed.
“The Algiers Accords (2015) are a Malian matter, not an Algerian one,” the president of the republic stated. “Some are trying to present it as interference by Algeria in Mali’s internal affairs. No. The Accords came in the aftermath of what happened before.”
“Every time there is a change of leadership in Mali, there is an attempt to resolve the issue by force. Force does not solve problems,” he said.
The President of the Republic indicated in this regard that Malians always eventually return to dialogue, with Algeria’s help in particular. He expressed his “conviction” that Malians are capable of overcoming the situation, recalling that Algeria stands ready to assist them if requested, as it has always done since 1962.
“I speak from the heart because we love Mali,” he stated. “We are not going to move away, and Mali is not going to move away. Extremism has never paid off,” he added, highlighting the long-standing ties between the two countries.
“What we have achieved with fellow African countries, including Niger, (is) an example for all of Africa, we are becoming increasingly African in outlook,” the President of the Republic said, outlining a vision centered on developing cooperation with African countries across a wide range of sectors.
He expressed Algeria’s determination to deepen its relations particularly with Burkina Faso and Chad, as part of efforts aimed at achieving genuine African integration.
Addressing Algerian-American relations, the President of the Republic noted that they “have always been good” and continue to improve steadily.
“The Americans know Algeria’s weight in Africa,” he said, stressing that Algeria will never abandon its friends, citing Russia and China, or its brothers such as Indonesia, and reaffirming that Algeria remains a non-aligned country.
He added that Algeria will never accept the installation of a foreign military base on its territory. “That is precisely what underpins Algeria’s credibility,” he assured.
On the Palestinian question, the President of the Republic reiterated that the only solution was the establishment of a Palestinian state within its 1967 borders, warning that “the peace of the graveyards” being pursued “is a genocide that will lead nowhere but to the International Criminal Court.”
Reflecting on Algeria’s tenure at the UN Security Council (2024-2025), he noted: “We would spend ten, fifteen days debating every comma and every word in resolutions” on Palestine.
“There is a profound respect on the part of the United States toward Algeria and that has not changed,” he added, noting that Algeria’s consistent stance in defending Palestine has earned it the respect of the United States and other countries.
On Western Sahara, he concluded: “There is a UN resolution that is making its way forward, without friction between us and the United States, and they know what our positions are.”
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