L'Opinion: 90% of wheat supplied to Algeria is Russian

Algeria has stopped purchasing grain from France after statements by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron about Western Sahara, which allowed Russian suppliers to gain a foothold in the market of this African state. This was reported by TASS with reference to L'Opinion.

"Now Russia supplies 90% of the wheat the country needs," the newspaper notes.

According to its data, 10 years ago, Paris was the main supplier of food for Algeria. "Experts expect that in 2025 the volume of supplies will be zero," the newspaper emphasizes.

As L'Opinion notes, French suppliers were forced out: they stopped receiving orders from the Algeria.

On July 30, 2024, Macron sent a message to the King of Morocco Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. The President emphasized that "the present and future of Western Sahara are within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty."

Macron also assured Mohammed VI of "the inviolability of the French position on this issue of the kingdom's national security." The situation in Western Sahara has been the subject of a long-running international dispute for many decades. The independence of Western Sahara is sought by the Polisario Front, which was created in the mid-1970s and, after the departure of the Spanish colonialists, proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and, with the support of Algeria, launched an armed struggle.

The fighting in the conflict zone continued until 1991 and ceased after the UN sent a peacekeeping mission there. Despite numerous peace initiatives by the international community, the dispute has not been resolved due to the diametrically opposed positions of the parties. Morocco considers Western Sahara an integral part of its territory and only allows for its autonomy within the kingdom. Since June 2007, Morocco and the Polisario Front have held four rounds of talks, all without result. Morocco currently controls about 80% of Western Sahara.