Italy's president Sergio Mattarella praised Ghana for helping fight the scourge of piracy and illegal trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea, speaking on Friday after talks in Accra with his Guinean counterpart Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Mattarella and Akufo-Addo's talks stressed the need to maintain "a firm commitment to battling piracy and illicit trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea," Mattarella said.
"Italy has been cooperating in recent years with one of its ships, and I am extremely grateful to the Ghanaian Navy for their cooperation and to Ghana for welcoming our ship and working together for the common goal of securing freedom of navigation," he continued.
The talks also covered "unacceptable" crisis in the coup-hit Sahel "which annihilates democracy" and weakens regional cooperation, said Mattarella.
"Italy greatly appreciates Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)'s role in pushing for the return of democracy in those countries in order to restore full regional cooperation," he said.
"This will also aid the fight against terrorism and trafficking," Mattarella underlined.
.jpg)
