APS : Friday, 06 January 2017
MADRID- The 1st session of the Algerian-Spanish Strategic Dialogue, held in Madrid in late 2016 illustrates the firm willingness of both countries to intensify and diversify their bilateral cooperation.
This strategic dialogue meeting is an extension of the bilateral high-level consultations between the two countries, linked by a Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation signed in Madrid in October 2002.
The meeting was co-chaired by Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ignacio Ybanez, and Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and League of Arab States.
Political and security issues, including the fight against terrorism and organized crime were examined.
The two parties also discussed bilateral milestones, ahead of the preparation of the 7th session of the high-level meeting scheduled for the second half of 2017.
Such dialogue meetings are, Abdelkader Messahel said, “important mechanisms and tools which help reinforce the response capacities at the international level.”
This first meeting of dialogue allowed presenting the Algerian experience in terms of de-radicalisation, and its view on the “phenomenon of migration and its links with development and security.”
As for him, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alfonso Dastis, had said that the Algerian-Spanish relations are “good” and need to be «fostered and consolidated” in 2017 through the holding of the 7th high-level meeting between the two countries.
