NATO’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, Javier Colomina, has concluded a second official trip to Mauritania after meetings in the capital, Nouakchott.
Colomina visited on 8 October and held talks with Mauritania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Ould Merzoug, and the Minister of Defence, Hanena Ould Sidi, NATO announced on Monday.
He also met Mauritania’s Deputy Chief of Defence, Major General Mohamed Cheikh Beidda, other senior representatives of the armed forces’ General Staff, and Allied ambassadors.
NATO said Colomina and Mauritanian counterparts discussed NATO–Mauritania relations and regional security challenges linked to the Sahel — a vast semi-arid belt south of the Sahara that has faced instability in recent years.
Cooperation agreements and recent contacts
Mauritania’s President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, visited NATO Headquarters in March, NATO said.
The alliance described Mauritania as its only partner in the Sahel region, and said cooperation is developing through a Defence Capability Building package agreed at NATO’s Madrid Summit in 2022 and an Individually Tailored Partnership Programme adopted in early 2026.
This cooperation forms part of NATO’s Southern Neighbourhood Action Plan endorsed at the alliance’s Washington Summit in 2024.
