Ferrara: “Italy Is Grateful For Algeria’s Help During Covid 19 Pandemic”

The Italian ambassador to Algeria, Pasquale Ferrara, expressed on Tuesday his “deep gratitude” to Algeria which remained “alongside Italy” during the Coronavirus pandemic, stressing that the two countries are “united by a very rich past” and bound by “friendly and loyal” bilateral relations.

In a message published on the occasion of his country’s national holiday, celebrated on 2 June each year, of which “Echorouk” received a copy, Mr Ferrera expressed Italy’s “deep gratitude” to the “generous Algerian people, who stood by Italy during the delicate period of the Coronavirus pandemic”, recalling that Italy “is among the first countries in the world to have suffered the consequences of the Covid-19 health crisis”.

Mr. Ferrera also expressed his “deep gratitude to the dozens of Algerian citizens who came to the Embassy during the health crisis to offer discreetly and without claiming to do so, basic necessities to be sent to Italy”, citing also the help of the Algerian Red Crescent (CRA) and other organizations.

“We can never forget this surge of friendship and dignity,” he said, quoting the Neapolitan dialect proverb that says that “it is in need that one recognizes one’s true friends”.

“It is a bond of true closeness and not just of mere neighborliness. We share a common history of centuries of exchanges, of intersections, often of suffering, but also of great moments of rebirth,” he said, describing the two countries, which are “united by a very rich past” as “gateways to Europe and Africa”.

The diplomat noted that Algeria and Italy “are linked by friendly, loyal and equal bilateral relations,” recalling the recent visits to Algiers of the President of the Council of Ministers, Giuseppe Conte, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano, and the visit to Rome of the Algerian Foreign Minister, Sabri Boukadoum.

In this line, he announced the forthcoming bilateral Summit and the Strategic Dialogue on political and security issues, adding that the Italian Embassy in Algeria is ready to organize as soon as possible, a High Level Economic Forum and to relaunch the Algerian-Italian Business Club.

Speaking on the situation in Libya, the Italian diplomat stressed that Algeria and his country “will continue to support inclusive, shared, lasting political solutions”, saying that “peace is not an option among many others, but an obligation and a duty for all”.