File Photo: Italian Premier Mario Draghi addresses the Senate in Rome, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Pleas were piling up in Italy on Sunday, July 17, 2022 AP
In a sign of the importance of the visit, the Italian delegation includes the foreign minister, interior minister, justice minister and ecological transition ministers. They’ll hold a day of talks, meet with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and sign joint agreements.
Algeria is set to displace Russia as the main supplier of gas to Italy, after a major agreement was reached during a trip by Draghi to Algeria in April between Algerian energy giant Sonatrach and Italian company ENI to increase gas exports. EU countries have scrambled to diversify energy sources after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Monday’s trip comes at a precarious time for Draghi, who had to cut it a day short because of political troubles at home. A main partner in his pandemic unity government, the populist 5-Star Movement, boycotted a confidence vote in the Senate last week on an energy costs relief bill, jeopardizing the survival of the 17-month-old government.
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