Rapprochement With EU Member States Bolsters Relations With Brussels

The Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Algeria, Diego Meado Pascua, described the relations between Algeria and the European Union as “very good, solid, and open”. He stated that this development can be observed through the exchange of official visits between Algeria and some EU member states, as well as the increasing volume of trade between the two sides.

The Spanish diplomat said in an interview with “Echorouk” at the European Delegation’s headquarters: “There have been high-level visits recently between the two parties, clearly reflecting the important bilateral relations. About a month ago, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, visited Algeria, and before that, the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, also visited Algeria.

These were ministerial-level visits, and we will continue to work on scheduling other ministerial visits to highlight Algeria’s importance to Europe.”

Diego Meado Pascua expressed Brussels’ readiness to develop its relations with Algeria: “The relationship with Algeria is very good, solid, and open. We are always open to dialogue with it in a calm atmosphere within the framework of the Association Agreement,” which came into force in 2005, and some of its provisions constitute points of contention between the two parties.

Despite this, the European Ambassador praised the strength of Algeria’s relations with some EU member states, such as Germany and Italy in particular, saying: “Algeria has very good relations with some EU member states, including Italy, with which the two countries exchange high-level visits, as well as Germany, which President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will visit.”

He also noted the warming of Algerian-French relations and, before that, relations with Spain, which contributes to strengthening the relationship between Algeria and Brussels. He highlighted the visits of French ministers to Algeria in recent months, as well as Spain, which sent its Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, there, which led him to state: “Therefore, I truly see Algeria at the heart of a great interaction with Europe and the EU member states, and this is a very positive matter.”

Commenting on the impact of the renewed communication between Algeria and France on the relationship with Brussels, the European diplomat explained: “Each EU member state has its own special relations with any country outside the 27-member European bloc.

The Union hopes that each of its member states will have developed relations with countries outside it, especially when it comes to a country like Algeria, because that helps strengthen and improve relations with the European Union.”

Diego Meado spoke about the Pact for the Mediterranean as a broad space for cooperation with Algeria, reflecting the geopolitical situation the world is witnessing in 2026, saying: “There is another space wider than the Association Agreement, which is dialogue within the framework of the Pact for the Mediterranean, which allows us to discuss all files and topics to modernize bilateral relations, because we are in the twenty-sixth year of the twenty-first century, many data have changed and developed, which leads us to the inevitability of strengthening our bilateral relations.”

Regarding the most pressing issues in the relationship between the two parties, the European diplomat spoke about energy, communications, and infrastructure, which are of great importance. Therefore, the Pact for the Mediterranean was developed and elaborated to allow for addressing other issues such as the movement of people, which is also part of this pact, as well as trade relations, which have witnessed remarkable development recently. This endeavor is driven by the enormous potential that encourages investment, as is the case for Italy or Ireland.