ALGIERS: Algeria said Tuesday it would reopen its land border with Tunisia later this month, more than two years after it was shut at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have taken the joint decision to reopen the land border from July 15,” said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
He was speaking at Algiers airport alongside his Tunisian counterpart President Kais Saied, who was leaving the country after attending a huge parade marking 60 years since Algeria’s independence from France.
Passengers had been blocked from crossing the border since March 2020 to stop the Covid-19 illness spreading, although cargo traffic had continued.
Being cut off from a neighbor of some 44 million people has dealt a serious blow to Tunisia’s tourism industry.
More than three million Algerians usually visit the country every year, according to local media.
Air and sea links between the two countries were restored in June 2021.
Algeria to re-open land border with Tunisia: president
https://arab.news/9zkrw
Algeria to re-open land border with Tunisia: president
- "We have taken the joint decision to reopen the land border from July 15," said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune
- He was speaking at Algiers airport alongside his Tunisian counterpart President Kais Saied
Spain permanently withdraws ambassador as rift with Israel deepens
- Tensions have heightened since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with Sa’ar accusing Spain in early March of “standing with tyrants” for opposing the war
MADRID: Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday as a diplomatic standoff worsened between the two countries over Spain’s opposition to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
The ambassador was summoned back to Spain last September amid a diplomatic row over Spanish measures banning aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace due to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced as antisemitic.
On Tuesday, Spain published an announcement in its official gazette that the ambassador’s position had been terminated. Spain’s Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d’affaires for the foreseeable future.
The move marks the latest escalation in diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been heavily strained since Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip in October of 2023.
Israel’s embassy in Spain is also run by a charge d’affaires after the country summoned its ambassador last May in protest at Spain’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
Tensions have heightened since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with Sa’ar accusing Spain in early March of “standing with tyrants” for opposing the war.
