The Diplomat
The President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, made yesterday a working visit to Spain marked, among other issues, by the commitment of this country to security and defense in the Sahel, in the midst of the debate on the future of the missions in Mali, and by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, since Mauritania is the only NATO partner in the region.
The Mauritanian leader, who held several meetings in Madrid with Spanish and Mauritanian businessmen, was received at the Zarzuela Palace by King Philip VI. The meeting was attended, on the Spanish side, by the Ambassador to Mauritania, Miriam Alvarez de la Rosa, and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Angeles Moreno Bau. On the Mauritanian side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the Mauritanian Ambassador to Spain, Boubacar Kane, were present. Afterwards, the King and Queen hosted a lunch in honor of the Mauritanian President and the First Lady, Mariem Fadel Dah.
Then, El Ghazouani – who assumed the presidency on August 1, 2019 – was received at La Moncloa Palace by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The meeting, which had been postponed up to two times – July 2021 and January 2022 – marks the first visit of a Mauritanian head of state to Spain since 2008. In June 2020, Pedro Sánchez chose Mauritania for his first international trip since the lifting of the state of alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mauritania is for Spain a fundamental partner in terms of security and defense, and a benchmark of stability in the Maghreb and Sahel regions,” said Sánchez, who also highlighted the many advances made by the African country in recent years, especially “its democratic consolidation.”
Pedro Sánchez also highlighted the collaboration between Spain and Mauritania on migration issues, “with very positive results”, and underlined the deepening collaboration between NATO and Mauritania, the only partner of the Atlantic Alliance in the region. In this context, the Spanish President highlighted Mauritania’s condemnation of “Putin’s war” during the United Nations General Assembly.
Following the meeting, Spain and Mauritania adopted a Joint Declaration and opened the ratification process of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation. In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a working meeting yesterday with his Mauritanian counterpart, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, at the Ministry’s headquarters.
Mauritania, located only 900 kilometers from the Canary coasts, maintains very close relations with Spain in matters such as fishing, development cooperation, the fight against irregular immigration and defense and the fight against terrorism. On this point, the visit of the Mauritanian president took place in the midst of debates on the continuity of international missions in Mali, bordering Mauritania and one of the Sahel countries most affected by terrorism.
Last February, France and other allied countries announced the withdrawal of their troops in Mali involved in the international missions Barkhane – for the fight against terrorism – and Takuba – formed by special units from different European countries – due to their disagreements with the military junta in Bamako. Spain is not part of these missions, but currently contributes the largest contingent (500 military personnel, 24% of the total) to the European training mission EUTM Mali. Spain has repeatedly insisted that any decision on this mission must be taken by the EU as a whole and has warned that a hasty withdrawal from Mali could degenerate into “another Afghanistan”, in addition to leaving an empty space that could be occupied by other powers, such as China or Russia, in this case through the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Group.
