The President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, praised Monday in Algiers the bilateral relations between her country and Algeria, describing Algeria as “an important and reliable partner of Italy”.
The choice of Algeria as the first stage of her visit to North Africa “is not fortuitous”, said Ms. Meloni during a joint press conference with the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, adding that “the new Italian government wanted to show the importance of Algeria for Italy as an essential and strategically important partner.
The President of the Italian Council of Ministers underlined the importance of this visit which “comes on an important occasion, the 20th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness between the two countries signed in Algiers in January 2003”.
“We wanted to mark this anniversary with the signing of a Joint Declaration highlighting the importance and excellence of the relations between our two countries, relations that we want to develop in new areas and strengthen cooperation in the energy, economic, cultural and political fields”, said Ms Meloni.
He added that “Italy wishes to establish a partnership with Algeria that will enable both countries to achieve more growth and development, to build bridges between the two shores of the Mediterranean and to contribute to stability in the region”.
Italy considers Algeria “an extremely important partner in the framework of the Enrico Mattei plan in Africa”, she added, noting that this plan was “based on a model of cooperation on equal terms with the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, with a view to transforming several crises into new opportunities and new potential”.
On the international level, the President of the Italian Council of Ministers stressed the need to reach a solution to the Palestinian question, through the adoption of the two-state principle.
She recalled Italy’s position that “a two-state solution is the only possible solution, through negotiations between the two parties within the framework of criteria established by international law, in order to ensure peace and stability in the region”.
Meloni said she had raised several international issues during her talks with President Tebboune “starting with North Africa, the stability in Libya, the sensitive situation in Mali and in the whole Sahel region”, pointing out the existence of “a growing destabilisation (in the region) which concerns her country”.
The situation in Tunisia was also discussed, according to Ms Meloni.
