Republic President holds a held Joint Press Conference with Spanish Prime Minister

HE President of the Republic and Chairperson of the African Union, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, held a joint press conference last night at the Presidential Palace in Nouakchott with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, during which he praised the historic friendship relations between the two countries.
The following is the text of the President’s speech during the press conference
“It was a great pleasure for me to receive today His Excellency Mr. Pedro Sanchez, President of the Spanish Government, on a visit of friendship and business.
This visit, which follows the one I made a few months ago together with Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, truly reflects the excellence and depth of the relations between our two countries.
This visit enabled me and my friend President Sanchez, as well as our delegations, to have a fruitful exchange, assess all issues of common interest and discuss the best ways and means to enhance the excellent cooperation that exists between our two countries.
We examined the common challenges of the moment and then discussed ways and means to address them, in a spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility, through balanced and mutually beneficial strategic partnerships. We agreed to continue strengthening and diversifying our cooperation to serve the common interest of our two friendly countries and to serve the development and stability of the region as a whole.
I take this opportunity to reiterate my thanks to President Sanchez for Spain’s renewed willingness to provide further support to our country’s development efforts and to advocate for Mauritania’s cause with the European Union and the international community.
I am counting on the personal commitment of President Sanchez to facilitate the legal migration of Mauritanian citizens to Spain and Europe, encourage circular migration of young Mauritanians, and exempt official national passports (diplomatic and work passports) from the Schengen visa.
I would also like to express, on behalf of myself and the Mauritanian people, our great appreciation for Spain’s honorable and courageous positions on the just and legitimate cause of the Palestinian people, who are still suffering under occupation.

As I reiterate my thanks to President Sanchez, I wish him every success in his tour of the sub-region and a pleasant stay in Mauritania.
Thank you for your kind attention.”
For his part, the Spanish Prime Minister delivered a speech during the joint press conference, the text of which reads as follows
“Mr. President.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to begin by thanking the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, my friend Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, for the warm welcome.
It is an honor for me to visit Mauritania again, a country with which we have deep historical ties of friendship, good neighborliness and good cooperation.
My goal, and that of the Government of Spain, is to strengthen our bilateral relations, which are going through an excellent period, as confirmed by my meeting with President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani.
I think the best proof of the good understanding between our two countries is the joint declaration we adopted, a document that covers a wide range of issues of common interest, such as business development, strengthening security, and especially the organized joint management of the migration phenomenon, among others.
We also agreed to hold the first high-level meeting between Mauritania and Spain, in 2025, here in Mauritania, which will be a new opportunity to intensify our bilateral relations.
As I said, one of the issues we addressed is how to jointly manage a complex issue that affects both countries in a big way, such as migration. Here today I would like to recall a message that I have repeatedly expressed in my own country, in Spain, that until not so long ago Spain was also a country of migrants. In very difficult times many of our Spanish citizens were looking abroad for a destination, aspiring to a better life, just as people now aspire to a better life, which in many cases involves very serious risks, a dangerous adventure. So for us the phenomenon of migration is a matter of morality, solidarity and dignity, and it is also a matter of pure rationality, because the contribution of migrant workers to our economy is fundamental, as is the support of social security and our public pension system.
Thus, for Spain, migration is wealth, development and prosperity. Despite the rhetoric that is unfortunately gaining ground in Europe, migration is not an issue, it is a necessity with certain issues, so we should promote ways that allow us to manage the migration phenomenon in a humane, safe and orderly way for the benefit of our societies. We must fight the mafias that trade in human beings and gamble with human lives, because the first victims of illegal migration are the migrants themselves. I believe that this requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account all the factors that affect migration and promotes cooperation between the countries concerned.
This is the spirit of the agreements we will sign today. First, what we are going to do is sign a memorandum of understanding to develop a model of regular, and therefore circular, migration, a formula that Spain has already successfully developed in different countries and is a good tool to manage the flow of migrants in an orderly and legal way.