Algiers, Feb 18 : The European Union (EU) wants to further strengthen its counter-terrorism co-operation with Algeria, says a visiting senior European foreign affairs and security official, Pedro Serrano.
“We already have a very important c-ooperation with Algeria in terms of the fight against terrorism and we are seeking ways to further reinforce it,” says Serrano, who is the Deputy Secretary-General for Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response at the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Serrano, who met Algerian Interior Minister Nourredine Bedoui here Wednesday, along with the EU co-ordinator for the fight against terrorism, Gilles de Kerchove, stressed that Algeria and th EU had a common vision of the challenges facing the two sides in their war on terrorism.
They also have a strong will to deepen bilateral co-operation in these efforts, added Serrano, who also met the Minister of Maghreb, African Union (AU) and Arab League Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, on Wednesday.
“We discussed the international situation, particularly the challenges we are facing in dealing with terrorism and the threat of the terrorist group ISIS (Daesh),” Serrano told journalists after the meeting with Messahel.
They also focused on the situation in Libya and in the Sahel.
During the meeting, Algeria reiterated its position for “a comprehensive approach which tackles the deep roots of terrorism, through a solution which combines the dimensions of security, development and respect for human rights”.
Algeria called for quickly moving towards a political solution through the support for the Libyan government resulting from the United Nations-brokered dialogue process in that neighbouring country.
It also called for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis as well as the stabilization of Mali, as part of Algiers Agreement.
Concerning the issue of the illegal migration also broached during this meeting, Algeria recommended that the genuine causes of this scourge be viewed as political given the number of crises, but also economic as reflected in the existing disparities between the countries of the South and the North.
The two sides expressed their readiness to continue bilateral discussions and to strengthen their co-operation in a “mutually beneficial framework based on trust and loyalty”.— NNN-APS