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On Wednesday, July 23, Rome hosted the 5th intergovernmental summit between Italy and Algeria. At the end of the high-level meeting, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune each delivered statements summarizing the key issues discussed.
As is customary during such international engagements, the Algerian president expressed satisfaction with what he called the «perfect convergence» of views between Rome and Algiers on several political matters.
On the Western Sahara issue, Tebboune stated that Italy «supports the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy to achieve a just political solution, in accordance with international legality, allowing the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination».
Joint Statement Contradicts Tebboune’s Remarks
However, the official joint communiqué released Wednesday by the Italian government presents a notably different stance.
In paragraph 29, the document states that both countries «reiterated their support for the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, to revive direct negotiations and achieve a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and relevant Security Council resolutions».
Notably absent from this joint communiqué is any mention of the «self-determination of the Sahrawi people», which Tebboune emphasized in his remarks.
Moreover, in her statement to the press, Prime Minister Meloni did not address the Western Sahara issue. Instead, she highlighted discussions with President Tebboune on crises in the Sahel and Libya.
Italy’s position on the Western Sahara has been consistent in recent years. In July 2023, following a meeting between Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, Rome reaffirmed its support for «the serious and credible efforts made by Morocco» to resolve the dispute. It also reiterated its backing of «the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to continue the political process aimed at reaching a just, realistic, pragmatic, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara issue, based on compromise and in accordance with resolution 2654», adopted by the Security Council in October 2022, a resolution Algeria notably rejected.
Italy also called on «all parties to remain engaged in a spirit of realism and compromise, within a framework consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter».
