Erik Yavorsky is a development assistant with The Washington Institute, and previously held the position of research assistant within the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at the institute. The North African country has maintained a close rapport with its traditional security partner, but a perpetual desire for balance and autonomy could offer opportunities for Western countries, including the United States. The closeness of this defense relationship endures today.
In October , Algeria hosted the Russian navy for joint maritime exercises, and the two sides reportedly conducted another joint exercise along the Moroccan border the next month, although Algerian officials denied that the latter occurred, perhaps to avoid international criticism. The relationship extends into the diplomatic arena as well.
Despite this closeness, however, Algeria has consistently tried to balance the perception of its relationship with Russia against a desire to maintain nonalignment on the global stage. For instance, Algeria is now the top supplier of natural gas to Italy, which previously sourced most of its natural gas from Russia. These attempts by Algiers to navigate its post-Ukraine relationship with Moscow have corresponded with a redoubled effort to craft an assertive and independent foreign policy.
Algeria has also managed to restore relations for now with France, with which it had a brief falling out in February when a critic of the Algerian leadership who also holds French nationality was received by Paris. The Algerian presidency has even announced that Tebboune plans to visit Paris in the second half of June.
A recent study found Russian arms had decreased by more than 30 percent between the β17 and β22 periods. Algiers will have to decide whether to double down on its security relationship with Russia and potentially use its status as a legacy customer to negotiate better deals, or start to look elsewhere for its military supplies.
