King to address Rome-hosted Mediterranean Dialogue

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania, on Wednesday arrived for a working visit to Italy to participate in the Mediterranean Dialogue, which Rome will host this week with the participation of 40 countries.

In Rome, he met later Wednesday with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi over regional and bilateral issues, according to the Royal Court. 

During the Mediterranean Dialogue meeting, King Abdullah is due to deliver a speech addressing a host of issues such as the Middle East crises, terrorism threats and extremism, the refugee crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Royal Court said in a statement.

His Majesty is also scheduled to hold meetings with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and other Italian senior officials. 

Discussions at the meetings will cover the latest regional and international developments, in addition to tackling bilateral political and economic relations.

HRH Prince Feisal was sworn as Regent, the statement added.

NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue was initiated in 1994 by the North Atlantic Council. It currently involves seven non-NATO countries of the Mediterranean region: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, according to NATO’s website.