A delicate mission for Algiers: Amidst Morocco's diplomatic offensive, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf attempted to rally Sweden and Finland to his country's stance on Western Sahara. However, his Nordic trip did not secure any official support, highlighting the growing isolation of Algerian diplomacy in the face of international momentum favoring the Moroccan autonomy plan. Under the instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs embarked on a diplomatic mission to Sweden and Finland. Ahmed Attaf's goal in these two Nordic countries was clear: to persuade Helsinki and Stockholm to adopt Algeria's stance on the Western Sahara issue. The tour began on April 23 with a visit to Stockholm, where Attaf was received by his Swedish counterpart, Maria Malmer Stenergard. However, the official Algerian communication did not mention any explicit support from the Swedish government for Algeria's position on the Sahara. It's worth recalling that the former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs had refused to grant an audience to a Polisario delegation in May 2022, thus breaking with a tradition of the Swedish left when it was in power in Stockholm. Attaf also visited the headquarters of the Olof Palme Foundation, named after the former socialist Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1986. Attaf failed to counter Bourita After Sweden, Attaf traveled to Finland. In Helsinki, he held «individual talks with the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Elina Valtonen, followed by an expanded working session with the delegations from both countries», according to a statement from Algerian diplomacy. «These exchanges allowed for a review of the friendly and cooperative relations between Algeria and Finland, with the aim of developing them. This requires the establishment of institutional mechanisms to enrich the legal framework of bilateral relations and encourage interaction and communication between businesses in both countries», the statement added. As in Stockholm, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained silent on the Sahara issue. It should be noted that Finland supports the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, describing it as a «good basis for a solution» to the regional dispute. This position was expressed in August 2024 in Helsinki by Ms. Elina Valtonen during a meeting with her Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita. After two days of travel, Ahmed Attaf returned quietly to Algiers. His return was not covered by the media in the neighboring region. It is also worth noting that the Polisario press ignored Ahmed Attaf's unsuccessful visits to Sweden and Finland. This tour by the head of Algerian diplomacy in the Nordic countries comes just days after Nasser Bourita's journey through several countries. During this trip, Morocco strengthened its position on the Sahara issue thanks to the reaffirmations of the Moroccan identity of the province by the United States and France, as well as the renewed support from Spain, Estonia, and Hungary for the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Sahara, not to mention Moldova and Croatia's endorsement of the solution proposed by the kingdom in 2007. Two diplomatic tours that illustrate the limits of Algerian diplomatic strategy, faced with a gradual realignment of European positions in favor of the Moroccan autonomy plan.
