As a gateway between Africa and Europe, Javier Solana sees Algeria's strength as key to regional peace and stability. Since its independence from France in 1962, which killed more than a million, the country has been battered by violence. In 1992 a general election won by the Islamists was scrapped, triggering a bloody civil war, in which more than 150,000 people died. During the Arab uprising, sparked by the self-immolation of a street vendor in neighbouring Tunisia in December 2010, "the revolutionary spirit" in Algeria was "stifled while still incipient." In January 2013 al-Qaeda linked terrorists attacked a gas plant in Amenas and killed over 60 people. The civil war in Libya following the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, and the Tuareg rebellion in Mali, had prompted the leadership to see regional security as its top priority.

The constitutional reforms approved by the parliament earlier this month, which aim to "strengthen Algeria’s democratic standing" may have come too little too late, especially "at a sensitive time, when Algeria is plagued by political and economic uncertainty." The reforms, which "in the making since 2011," send out a message to critics of the country’s commitment to democracy - to restrict serving presidents to two terms of office, and to make Amazigh, spoken by the country’s indigenous Berber minority, an official language. Algeria was originally inhabited by Berbers until the Arabs conquered North Africa in the 7th cenutry. The restrictions on the presidency will cancel out a change made in 2008 that enabled Algeria’s long-serving, ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to stand for a third term. He won a fourth term in 2014, amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud.

Apart from political uncertainty Algeria faces also economic and security challenges. As oil and gas industry account for "fully 97% of Algeria’s export income, the sharp decline in oil prices since June 2014 has underscored the unsustainability of the country’s economic model." The government will have to reduce its social largesse, which has "traditionally served as a social balm, helping prevent protest." There is fear that tax hike and higher prices for fuel, electricity, and gas" etc. could put social stability at risk, when a new generation of young people, born after the civil war in the 1990s, who unlike the parents - would not put up with "economic hardships" and rise up.

Since the 9/11 attacks, Algeria had been shaken by by a series of bombings carried out by a group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has its roots in an Islamist militia involved in the civil war in the 1990s. Algeria is being backed by the US and Europe in fighting terrorism in its neighbourhood. Solana says the EU will benefit from "further strengthening of ties with Algeria," which can make itself a reliable partner in securing "stability of nearby North Africa and the Sahel," and helping "improve the EU’s energy security."

Last of all he urges Algeria to reconcile with Marocco, by restoring diplomatic relations. This would "help improve security cooperation" in the region. The two had been embroiled in a decades-long territorial dispute over Western Sahara, a mainly desert territory in north-west Africa. For 40 years Algerian-backed Polisario led a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces, fighting for their independence.

It is true that if the "two North African giants were to recognize their mutual interests and reestablish ties," they would provide for stability in the Maghreb. "Algeria’s influence across Africa would also receive a boost," if it became "the first North African country" to lead the African Union, reach a peace agreement in Mali and mediate in the civil war in Libya.