Julio García-Aquí Europa
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Mauritania this Thursday in an attempt to strengthen cooperation in the fight against irregular migration.
According to the Commission, Sánchez and Von der Leyen will meet in Nouakchott with the president of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazaouani. The objective of this visit, as indicated by community sources to the Europa Press agency, is to address irregular immigration to the European Union through the Atlantic route – through which more than 40,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands over the past year – and the promotion of investments in clean energy in Mauritania, after last October Brussels announced its intention to help this country position itself as a nerve center for green hydrogen.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, highlighted yesterday, during his appearance before the International Cooperation Commission of the Congress of Deputies, that Mauritania is a “strategic country for Spain” and that “it will receive great support throughout this whole legislature” given that it is affected by the “repercussions” of the situation in the neighboring Sahel.
On January 9, Pedro Sánchez had a telephone conversation with Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, to whom he expressed his determination to continue strengthening cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration and human trafficking networks. He also assured that Mauritania “will continue to count on the support of Spain in the European Union” and recalled that, during the recently concluded rotating Presidency of the EU Council, “Spain has not ceased to advocate for strengthening migration cooperation with transit countries, in general, and especially with Mauritania.”
During the last legislature, various Government ministers have traveled to Mauritania in order to reinforce the fight against mafias that traffic migrants and cut off irregular routes. Thus, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, traveled last October, accompanied by the vice president of the European Commission in charge of migration policy, Margaritis Shinas.
Separately, José Manuel Albares traveled to Mauritania in mid-December, where he conveyed Spain’s support to his counterpart, Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, in the face of the growing migratory pressure that the country is suffering. Mauritania has gone through “a difficult time” this year in immigration matters, with “a very strong increase in departures to Spain, especially to the Canary Islands,” he recalled. Mauritania, which is “the first to suffer this migratory pressure,” maintains “close cooperation” with Spain in migration control and has shown that it is an “exemplary partner,” he added.
