Madar (Algiers) - Algeria's official news agency APS said on Sunday, 8 November 2026, that "authorised sources" had confirmed to it that the Algerian authorities had received no request for clarification from the European Union over the deployment of Algerian army units in Niger, describing a European statement on the matter as "pure and simple fabrication".
The agency was responding, in an article, to a statement by Anouar El Anouni, speaking as a spokesperson for the European Union, who said Brussels was following the situation closely and seeking further details on the scope, objectives and basis of the deployment of Algerian units in Niger under the Algeria-Niger memorandum of understanding on military cooperation.
According to APS, "no request for clarification, no official approach, no diplomatic exchange" matching those remarks had taken place. The agency added that any such approach would have met with a "categorical rejection" from Algeria, as it would amount to "intolerable interference" in its internal affairs and sovereign choices.
The agency argued that the statement, which it said was read from a paper in response to a question from a French journalist, reflected a French "relentlessness" against Algeria, accusing Paris of seeking to shift its disputes with Algiers onto the European stage and to "instrumentalise" EU institutions after the decline of its influence in the Sahel.
APS stressed that the dispatch of Algerian units to Niger took place "at the request of the Nigerien authorities and under a bilateral agreement" and was a sovereign matter between two states sharing borders and security interests. It called on the EU to shed light on how the statement was prepared, at a time when Algeria-EU relations are strained by disputes over trade restrictions on Algerian products and the functioning of the Association Council.
The first Algerian military convoy reached Agadez in northern Niger in late October, escorting about 60 fuel tankers.
