Meeting with Algerian President Abdulmecid Tebboune at the Muradiye Palace in the capital, Algeria, EU High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy Borrell discussed the war in Ukraine, energy, the fight against terrorism and the return of Algerian goods smuggled abroad.
“EU supports Ukraine politically, militarily and financially”
Speaking to the press after the bilateral meeting, Borell called on Algeria to support efforts to stop the ongoing war in Ukraine and said:
“The war in Ukraine is not just a European conflict, it is a challenge to the whole world because it is an attack that violates international law. For this reason, the EU supports Ukraine politically, militarily and financially as much as possible and will remain so. I invite Algeria to join the efforts to stop this unjust war and mitigate its economic and humanitarian impact on the world.”
“Algeria is one of the important partners of the EU in the fight against terrorism”
Noting that Algeria has a good partnership with the EU on energy and that approximately 90 percent of Algeria’s natural gas exports go to Europe, Borell said, “We can count on Algeria as a reliable partner in this field (energy). We want to strengthen this partnership with Algeria, which is going through difficult times, in the field of renewable energies in the future.”
Stating that Algeria is one of the important partners of the EU in the fight against terrorism, Borell said, “Given Algeria’s long experience in this field, the EU also relies on Algeria to coordinate its efforts to continue the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region.”
Borell said that an agreement was reached with the Algerian authorities to discuss the dialogue on security issues at the highest level and pointed out that a meeting will be held with Algeria before the end of the year within this framework.
Regarding Algerian goods smuggled abroad during the period of former President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, Borell emphasized that the EU will double its efforts to cooperate with Algeria for the return of these goods.
Borrell, who went to Algeria on Sunday evening, was greeted by Prime Minister Eymen Bin Abdurrahman.
Borrell, in a statement on his social media account, described the meeting he had with Bin Abdurrahman as “very important”.
Pointing to the strengthening of the EU-Algeria partnership, Borrell said, “Strengthening our partnership, which has great potential in many areas, including energy, trade, regional security, climate and environment, was at the center of our discussion.”