The head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, and several ministers arrived in Algeria on Sunday for an official visit, including meetings with senior officials from Africa’s leading gas exporter.
Prime Minister Aïmene Benabderrahmane welcomed Giorgia Meloni at Algiers airport for the start of this “friendly working visit”, according to his office. Algerian public television announced the arrival of the Italian Prime Minister, without photos or fanfare.
Like all high-ranking visitors, Giorgia Meloni first stopped to lay a wreath at the Monument to the Martyrs. This monument, located on top of a hill overlooking the capital, commemorates the Algerians who died to gain independence from France in 1962.
Giorgia Meloni is the latest European leader to visit Algeria since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which resulted in international sanctions against Moscow and cuts in Russian gas supplies that have driven up prices.
Oil production
It was in this context that Mrs. Meloni’s predecessor, Mario Draghi, concluded a series of agreements with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in July.
Among these agreements was a large oil and gas production sharing contract worth four billion dollars between Algeria and companies in the energy sector, including the Italian giant ENI, with the aim of reducing the dependence on ‘Italy Russian deliveries.
An Algerian official then said that his country would also increase its gas exports to Italy. Ms. Meloni is due to meet Mr. Tebboune on Monday, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. The two leaders last met in November on the sidelines of a climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian seaside resort.
Invasion of Ukraine
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Italy imported 95% of the gas it consumed, of which about 40% came from Russia. To reduce this dependence, Rome is increasingly turning to Algeria, historically its second-largest supplier.
Italy and Algeria want to build on former Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s successful initiatives last year to boost Algerian energy supplies to Italy and, according to an Algerian diplomat, “go beyond.”
“We want Italy to become a European hub for Algerian gas. A junction for other EU countries,” said Algeria’s ambassador to Rome, Abdelkrim Touahria, in an interview with the Roman daily Il. Messaggero, published Saturday.
Algiers-Rome axis
A first agreement concluded last year by Mario Draghi provided for the sending of 9 billion cubic meters of gas by 2023-2024 via the trans-Mediterranean gas pipeline. A few months later, in July, a $4 billion deal was reached between ENI companies, the Italian energy company, Occidental, and Total.
ENI, present in Algeria since 1981, manages, with the Algerian hydrocarbon giant Sonatrach, the TransMed gas pipeline which connects the country to Italy, via Tunisia.
Ms. Meloni’s visit to Algiers is the third in less than a year for an Italian Prime Minister, but it is much more discreet than that of his predecessor. The official Algerian news agency APS described it as “an opportunity to strengthen the Algiers-Rome axis” and a new step “to consolidate the construction of a real strategic partnership.”
Mr. Touahria, Ambassador of Algiers in Rome, said that ENI and Sonatrach are also looking to the future together with projects such as oil and gas exploration in the southern Sahara.
Immigration
Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led coalition won national elections in September, and it was likely that immigration and migrant issues, dear to Europe’s far-right, would also be a topic of discussion during its journey.
Italy is a magnet for migrants fleeing poverty, war, and other misfortunes in their home country, and North Africans, often from Tunisia and Algeria, are among them.
Italian consular officials in Rome regularly try to identify illegal migrants believed to be Algerians detained in Sardinia and southern Italy, Touahria was quoted by the official Algerian news agency APS as saying.
