With Tebboune re-elected, will Algeria's foreign policy change?

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 78, swept back into office for a second term after winning a landslide 84.3 percent of the vote in last week’s election, with the results ratified by the country’s Constitutional Court on Saturday.

The court had settled alleged irregularities in the election process which Tebboune’s opponents raised in two appeals. Over 24 million of a population of 45 million Algerians were registered to vote, of whom 46.1 percent turned out on 7 September.

While internal issues over human rights abuses and the repression of civil space remain in flux, analysts say that when it comes to foreign policy, little will change.

Palestine and Western Sahara are among the most prominent diplomatic issues for Algeria since the country’s return to the international stage following a 10-year civil war that ended in 2002.

Indeed, Algeria’s commitment to the Palestinian cause is a cornerstone of its foreign policy, according to political analyst Nabil Kahlouche.

“Algeria’s foreign policy since independence has hinged on supporting liberation movements and maintaining balanced relations between East and West. The country’s firm stance on the Palestinian cause is a continuation of the principles that have defined its foreign policy,” Kahlouche told The New Arab.

Kahlouche sees Algeria’s refusal to normalise relations with Israel as logical, given that the Palestinian territories remain under military occupation.

“Algeria cannot contradict its principles, which advocate for liberation on the one hand, while simultaneously reinforcing the occupation,” Kahlouche explained, noting the country’s firm stance against normalisation.

Mohamed El-Hamami, a representative of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) in Algeria, emphasised Algeria’s historic support for the Palestinian cause, recalling the words of late President Houari Boumediene: “We stand with Palestine, whether right or wrong.” 

“Algeria hosted Palestinian National Councils, unifying Palestinian ranks,” said El-Hamami, while the Palestinian Declaration of Independence on 15 November 1988, a significant political document, was “accomplished on Algerian soil”.

Aziz El-Rantissi, a media officer at the Hamas’ bureau in Algeria, further highlighted how Algeria today presents a “progressive political discourse" compared to the general Arab position, noting how it “officially embraces the resistance factions,” by offering a political umbrella during the ongoing battle where there are attempts to isolate Palestinian resistance, label it as terrorism, and thwart its support. 

“Algeria’s decision to host leaders of the resistance emphasises its deep Arab and Islamic identity as the resistance factions engage in a decisive battle whose outcome will shape the future of the region in light of the normalisation project that threatens the region’s security and identity,” says El-Rantissi. “It is a safety valve against normalisation.”

El-Hamami agrees, adding that Algeria will never normalise relations with Israel as long as it oppresses the Palestinian people.

“On the contrary,” he says. “Algeria confronts and resists through all available means, materially and politically.” 

In 2024, Algeria began its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, performing its diplomatic role with "high professionalism," according to El-Rantissi, and using a unique form of “militant diplomacy” that highlighted Israel’s violations.

“Despite flaws in the international system, Algeria continues to defend Palestinian rights with a revolutionary spirit,” adds El-Rantissi, noting that with its support, Palestine made strategic achievements concerning Israel’s international image and Palestinian rights.

El-Hamami added that Algeria successfully influenced the positions of some Western countries, rallying significant support, particularly during the General Assembly's vote on Palestine’s full membership and a seat among UN members in the Assembly Hall.

Kahlouche noted that Algeria’s help placed the Palestinian issue at the top of the Security Council’s agenda, whether in emergency or regular meetings.

He added that Algeria led the political pressure in the UN Security Council while South Africa pursued legal action in international courts, such as the ICJ, using its geopolitical clout as a major player in the African Union (AU) to block Israel’s bid for observer status in the pan-African body.

Algeria's stance on the Western Sahara

In line with its support for emancipation movements, Kahlouche says that the second major pillar of Algeria’s foreign policy is its stance on the self-determination of the Polisario Front in Western Sahara in its territorial dispute with Morocco.

“When Spanish colonisers withdrew from the Western Sahara, there were resistance fighters on the ground but Morocco continues to seize the territory by force,” Kahlouche explains. 

“From a geopolitical perspective, Algeria cannot ignore such a conflict on its borders. Algeria does not seek control over the Western Sahara, it believes the issue must be resolved through the UN’s Decolonisation Committee based on a self-determination referendum,” he says.

Sidi Mohamed Omar, the Polisario Front’s representative to the UN, emphasised that Algeria’s support aligns fully with UN resolutions and is a reflection of Algeria’s “loyalty to its revolutionary history and its response to UN decisions, in defence of the rights of colonised peoples to freedom and independence”.

In his speech at the UN General Assembly last September, President Tebboune reiterated Algeria’s commitment to supporting just causes and expressed hope for the “final decolonisation of Western Sahara, the last African colony, where its people are still deprived of their basic right to self-determination through a free and fair referendum in accordance with the UN-African Union settlement plan, adopted by the Security Council in 1991 and agreed upon by both parties, but still awaits implementation”.

This stance has impacted Algeria’s relations with Morocco and countries including France and Spain, which have direct interests in the region, says Kahlouche, adding that Algeria’s commitment to the Sahrawi cause, alongside more than 40 nations that recognise the Western Sahara’s right to self-determination, has impacted its relations with international players who exploit these divisions.

This article is published in collaboration with Egab