Speech by Mr. Attaf as he presided, alongside his Slovak counterpart, over the official inauguration ceremony for the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Algiers
Excellency Mr. Juraj Blanár, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic,
Ambassadors,
Distinguished Members of the Slovak Delegation,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great pleasure, to participate with my dear friend, his Excellency Mr. Juraj Blanár, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, to this ceremony marking the official inauguration of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Algeria.
The opening of this Embassy constitutes, undoubtably, an important milestone in the history of our bilateral ties. It is not merely the establishment of a new diplomatic representation; it is, above all, a concrete expression of our shared willingness to bring Algeria and Slovakia closer together and to give greater depth and substance to our cooperation.
Excellency,
Allow me to highlight, first, the political significance of this new step in our relations.
Algeria and Slovakia have developed friendly relations based on mutual respect and a shared commitment to dialogue and cooperation. The inauguration of the Slovak Embassy in Algiers provides a permanent platform for political dialogue and consultation, acts as a catalyst for economic interaction and partnership, facilitates direct contacts between our institutions, and allows us to better understand and address the priorities and concerns of both sides.
Second, we see in this Embassy a valuable opportunity to give a stronger impetus to our economic and commercial cooperation.
Our two countries possess considerable and still insufficiently exploited potential. There are promising areas of complementarity, and ample opportunities to develop fruitful, diversified and sustainable partnerships based on mutual benefit.
The objective before us should therefore be to move from potential to concrete results.
In this regard, greater efforts should be devoted to bringing our business communities closer together, encouraging direct contacts between Algerian and Slovak companies, and identifying sectors where our respective capacities can be combined to generate mutually beneficial projects. Our two embassies will certainly play a key role in this endeavor.
Third, we attach particular importance to strengthening the human dimension of our relations.
The friendship between countries cannot be sustained by governmental relations alone. It must also be nurtured through contacts between peoples, universities, researchers, cultural institutions, young people and civil society.
We therefore encourage the development of academic, scientific, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between Algeria and Slovakia. These exchanges can contribute to a better mutual understanding of our societies and create lasting bonds between our two peoples.
Excellency,
Our common objective is clear: to build a stronger, more dynamic and more diversified Algerian-Slovak partnership, supported by regular political dialogue, expanding economic cooperation and closer human exchanges.
The inauguration of the Embassy of your friendly country gives us a new instrument to achieve this objective. It opens a new chapter, but it also places before us a shared responsibility: that of making this new chapter meaningful through concrete actions and lasting achievements.
Let me conclude, Excellency, by extending once again my heartfelt congratulations to the Government and the people of the Slovak Republic on the inauguration of their Embassy in Algiers.
I wish to assure you of Algeria's full readiness to work with the Slovak Republic, and with its diplomatic representation here in Algiers, to further advance our bilateral relations in all areas of common interest.
May this Embassy become a shining symbol of the friendship between Algeria and Slovakia.
Thank you.