Foreign relations of Algeria

Algeria has traditionally practiced an activist foreign policy. In the 1960s and 1970s, Algeria was noted for its great support of Third World policies and independence movements.

Since his inauguration in 1999, President Bouteflika has worked to extend Algeria's international influence, traveling extensively throughout the world. In July 2001, he became the first Algerian President to visit the US White House in 16 years. He has made official visits, among others, to France, Republic of South Africa, Italy, Spain, Germany, the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea and Russia since his inauguration.

Algeria has friendly relations with its neighbors in the Maghreb, Tunisia and Libya, and with its Sub-Saharan neighbors Mali and Niger. Algeria has taken the lead in working on issues related to the African Continent. Host of the Organisation of African Unity Conference in 2000, Algeria also was key in bringing Ethiopia and Eritrea to the peace table in 2000. It has worked closely with its African neighbors to establish the New African Partnership. Algeria has taken a lead in reviving the Union of the Arab Maghreb with its regional neighbors.

Algeria–Libya relations have generally been amicable. Libyan support for the Polisario in the Western Sahara facilitated early post independence Algerian relations with Libya. Libyan inclinations for full-scale political union, however, have obstructed formal political collaboration because Algeria has consistently backed away from such cooperation with its unpredictable neighbour. (A vote by the CCN on June 30, 1987, actually supported union between Libya and Algeria, but the proposal was later retracted by the FLN Central Committee after the heads of state failed to agree.) The Treaty of Oujda between Libya and Morocco, which represented a response to Algeria's Treaty of Fraternity and Concord with Tunisia, temporarily aggravated Algerian-Libyan relations by establishing a political divide in the region--Libya and Morocco on one side; Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania on the other. Finally, in 1988 Libya was invited to participate in the inter-Maghrib commission that was responsible for developing the North African union. The establishment of the UMA in February 1989 marked the first formal political or economic collaboration between the two neighbours.

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