Algeria overlooks the world from the portal of Portugal – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazaeryia

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune started an official visit to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, during which he will hold talks with Portuguese officials. The visit comes within the framework of improving political and economic relations and consolidating the foundations of cooperation between the two countries, which is the first of its kind in more than two decades, and Lisbon is the second stop in Europe after Rome.

Today, Tuesday, in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received an official reception from his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, as part of his state visit to this pivotal country.

By the way, the Portuguese President stressed today in his statement the importance of Algeria, and expressed Lisbon’s desire to deepen and strengthen economic cooperation in renewable energies, tourism and education with Algeria, considering that President Tebboune’s visit will open horizons in relations between the two countries, and he also expressed his desire to pay a visit to Algeria. He said: “We thank Algeria’s support in the past, and we are very concerned about the present and the future.”

It is expected from this visit to hold a package of political coordination agreements related to the promotion of the movement of people and transportation, and economic and commercial cooperation. An Algerian-Portuguese business forum will also be organized in the capital, Lisbon, which will bring together Algerian and Portuguese businessmen, and allow a boost to cooperation between the two countries, in which Algeria will provide opportunities. Investment, and a presentation on the development of the business climate and environment, to receive direct Portuguese investments, and increase their volume, which currently does not exceed 60 million dollars, as 80 Portuguese institutions are active in several sectors in Algeria, and Algeria wishes to benefit, especially from the Portuguese experience in the field of renewable energies (60 percent percent of the total electricity production in Portugal comes from renewable energy sources), to implement the government’s plans in this field, especially since Algeria aims to produce 15,000 megawatts of electricity through solar energy by 2035.

President Tebboune’s visit, in the political aspect, aims to strengthen Algeria’s reliance on partners in the northern bank of the Mediterranean, such as Italy and Portugal, as alternative options for Spain, which has frozen relations between it and Algeria since March 2022, due to Madrid’s sudden change in its position on the conflict in the Sahara region, as it sided with the proposal. Moroccan, for political calculations between them.

From this standpoint, Portugal’s balanced position regarding the conflict in the Sahara region and just issues encouraged Algeria to strengthen its relations with Lisbon, as the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, had announced during his visit to Rabat two weeks ago, his country’s adherence to “supporting the efforts of the United Nations.” To resolve the conflict, through a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution. The Portuguese President also affirmed today his country’s support for the United Nations resolutions on the issue of Western Sahara.

For his part, President Tebboune affirmed that the talks he had with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza were “fruitful, honest and frank, reflecting the reality and depth of political relations and allowing for the promotion of regular political consultation, which expresses the multifaceted partnership that unites Algeria and Portugal, in a complex regional and international environment.” Stressing that there is complete agreement on the files presented, whether regional or international, and President Tebboune inferred the positions of Algeria and Portugal with regard to the Palestinian issue and the Western Sahara file, saying, “We talked about Libya, the Western Sahara file, Palestine, and the file of friendly Ukraine and friendly Russia, and we aspire to peace between them.”

It is noteworthy that Portugal not only represents a pivotal country in economic terms, but even in the geopolitical field, it jumped in order of priorities to the fore in the Iberian Peninsula, and it has a lot to offer from a thousand-year history of investment opportunities, strategic position, excellent business climate, and a central political role. It is also a popular place for international travel and immigration. It is one of the safest places in Europe, and the cost of living is low, and it is the most attractive destination for expatriates because of the high-end services it provides, especially in the field of investment, as well as being a democratic and sovereign country.