The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, received, on Wednesday, July 23, the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, before which she praised a bilateral relationship of a level “Never reached before”. This resulted in the signing of agreements, especially in the energy field.
“Our bilateral relations have reached a level of intensity and solidity never affected before”welcomed Giorgia Meloni in front of the press alongside Abdelmadjid Tebboune, on an official visit to Rome during an Italian-Algerian economic forum. “During this fifth summit (…) We have taken concrete measures that express a firm political will to strengthen our historic bilateral relations and further widen the bonds of cooperation ”said the Algerian president.
Aspiring to make Italy “The gateway between the energy produced in Africa and that which Europe needs”Giorgia Meloni praised the collaboration between the Algerian oil giant Sonatrach and the Eni Italian group, “Which will become even more solid thanks to the signed agreements” Wednesday in the presence of the CEOs of the two companies, Rachid Hachichi and Claudio Descalzi. No details were provided on the content of these agreements, but the two groups had already signed a contract of “Production sharing” hydrocarbons in the amount of $ 1.35 billion (around 1.15 billion euros).
“We will continue to work together to design and set up new energy and digital corridors between North Africa and Europe”insisted Giorgia Meloni. After the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which forced Rome to seek new partners to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, Algeria has become the leading gas supplier in Italy and its first economic partner on the African continent. The two countries also signed cooperation agreements in the fields of defense, the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration on Wednesday.
Giorgia Meloni had already visited Algeria in January 2023. This Italian-Algerian rapprochement took place in a context of tensions between Paris and Algiers, whose diplomatic relations have been going through an unprecedented crisis since the summer of 2024, marked by expulsions of diplomats on both sides and a frost of all cooperation.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune is owed to Pope Léon XIV on Thursday, whose membership of the Order of Saint-Augustin (354-430), a great thinker of Christianity from the current Algerian region of Souk Ahras and former bishop of Hippone, the current city of Annaba, was very noticed in Algeria.
