Brussels, 31/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Visiting Algiers at the beginning of the week, Pier Antonio Panzeri MEP (S&D, Italy) - who is the head of the European Parliament's delegation for cooperation with the Maghreb - was welcomed, along with a delegation, by Algeria's Foreign Affairs Minister Ramtane Lamamra on Tuesday. The meeting was “very positive”, Panzeri said at a press conference. “We have underestimated the role of Algeria. It can play a very important role in the region”, he stated, according to French news agency AFP.
The delegation's discussions with Lamamra focused on implementing an action plan which is currently being negotiated with the EU in the hope of achieving a “major development” in cooperation, Panzeri said. The situations in the Maghreb and Sahel were discussed.
Local Algerian media, reporting on his comments, reveal that a disagreement has been detected on putting in place an electoral observation mission ahead of the next presidential elections - in 2014 - and on prior access to the electoral register. This was refused José Ignacio Salafranca MEP (EPP, Spain), the head of the electoral observation mission for the parliamentary elections on 10 May 2012.
Panzeri also met the head of the People's National Assembly, Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa, and members of the Algerian Parliament's group for permanent contact with the EU. According to the press, they discussed “issues linked to cooperation on the fight against terrorism, drugs trafficking and organised crime”. (FB/transl.fl)