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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Algeria on Sunday (January 22) for a two-day visit.
Algeria’s national television announced Meloni’s arrival without photos or fanfare.
She was received by Prime Minister Aymene Benavderaman. Like all high-ranking visitors, Meloni’s first stop was to lay a wreath at the Martyrs’ Monument. Perched on a hill overlooking the capital, the monument commemorates the Algerians who won independence from France in 1962.
The Italian leader also planned to visit Italian Navy ships in the port of Algiers.
Algeria has replaced Russia as Italy’s number one energy supplier, and Rome is looking to strengthen its partnership. However, topics such as shipbuilding, automobiles and start-ups are said to be on Meloni’s agenda, indicating that the two countries may deepen their cooperation.
Meloni is scheduled to meet Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday (January 23). The two last met in November on the sidelines of a climate conference in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, after which she has to sign a number of contracts. It is unclear if another energy deal will take place soon.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has turned the world’s strategic and economic dynamics upside down and brought a new and urgent dimension to the relationship between Algiers and Italy, which have long relied on Russian energy. Other European Union countries are also scrambling to find alternative sources of energy for Russia.
Italy and Algeria want to expand Algeria’s energy supply to Italy, building on then-Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s successful initiative last year, and Algerian diplomats said they would “promote beyond that.” said.
Algeria’s ambassador to Rome, Abdelkrim Tualia, said in an interview with Rome’s daily Il Mesaggero published on Saturday that “Italy wants to become the European hub for Algerian gas.” We hope to become a junction of countries.
The first deal Draghi signed last year added an additional 9 billion cubic meters of gas between 2023 and 2024 to be sent via a trans-Mediterranean pipeline. A few months later, in July, his $4 billion contract was signed between Eni, the Italian energy company, Occidental and Total.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi was to be part of the Italian delegation accompanying Meloni
Meloni’s visit to Algiers, the third in less than a year by an Italian prime minister, is considerably more low-key than her predecessor. Algeria’s official APS news agency described this as “an opportunity to strengthen the Algiers-Rome axis” and another step for her to “strengthen the building of a genuine strategic partnership”. .
Algeria’s ambassador to Rome Tualia said Italy’s Eni and Algeria’s oil company Sonatrach are also looking to the future with projects such as oil and gas exploration in Southern Sahara.
Meloni’s right-wing coalition won national elections in September, and issues of immigration and immigration, key to Europe’s far right, are also likely to be the subject of discussion during her visit.
Immigrants fleeing poverty, war and other hardships in their home countries, as well as North Africans from Tunisia and Algeria, join Italy in their emigration attempts.
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