Algeria and Belgium stressed, in their 2nd session of political discussions held Thursday in Brussels, the need to maintain the “momentum” of their bilateral relations to establish “pragmatic and mutually beneficial” partnership.

The 2nd session of the Algerian-Belgian political discussions, which was held at the level of secretaries general of the two countries’ Foreign Affairs Ministries, is the extension of the one that took place in March 2012 in Algiers.

This meeting was an opportunity for the two secretaries general Abdelhamid Senouci Bereksi and  Dirk Achten to review the state of the bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest.

The two delegations expressed pleasure about the state of the bilateral cooperation and discussed the relations between Algeria and the European Union (EU), particularly as part of the new European neighbouring policy.

The two sides broached several topical issues, including the fight against terrorism, the latest developments in Yemen, the Middle East peace process, the issue of Western Sahara and the situation in Libya and Mali.

Algeria’s “pivotal” role in the peace dialogue in Libya and Mali was hailed on this occasion by the Belgian side.

Senouci Bereksi and Achten signed a memorandum of understanding on the Algerian-Belgian political discussions to strengthen the bilateral relations.