The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, will make a state visit to France “at the end of September-beginning of October”, the Elysée announced on Monday March 11, following a telephone interview between Mr. Tebboune and his French counterpart , Emmanuel Macron. This visit, postponed several times against a backdrop of recurring hot and cold weather between the two countries, will take place “on a date to be specified” during this period, indicates the French presidency. It will take place a few weeks before the presidential election in Algeria, scheduled for December. Mr. Tebboune, 78, has not yet announced whether or not he will seek a second term.
The visit, first scheduled for early May 2023, was postponed until June of the same year, with Algerians fearing that it would be spoiled by the May 1 protests against the highly contested pension reform in France, according to sources concordant. But Mr. Tebboune never confirmed his arrival, which was to mark the improvement between the two countries after a number of diplomatic crises. On the other hand, he went on a state visit to Russia at the same time, which was perceived as a disavowal of Paris.
In December, Algiers again assured that the conditions for a visit were “not suitable”, then mentioning five issues to be resolved beforehand, including those of memory, mobility, economic cooperation and French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara.
Renewed partnership
“The two presidents discussed the deepening of the renewed partnership between France and Algeria following the Algiers declaration” concluded during Mr. Macron’s visit to Algiers in August 2022, said the Elysée. This renewed partnership must intervene “on the economic, energy, agricultural, educational and cultural levels, as well as in terms of mobility and human exchanges”, underlined the French presidency.
“Regarding questions of memory, they welcomed the recent progress of the joint Franco-Algerian commission of historians chaired by professors Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi and Benjamin Stora, which will meet again in April,” added the Elysée . The question of French colonization (1830-1962) still weighs very heavily between the two countries. The Algerian power resulting from the war of independence (1954-1962) draws its legitimacy from it. A real “memorial rent”, launched Mr. Macron in 2021, after having tried in vain to seal reconciliation between the two countries, arousing the ire of Algiers.
“They also discussed regional issues and cooperation at the United Nations Security Council, particularly with regard to the conflict in the Middle East,” continues the Elysée. In February, the United States vetoed a draft resolution submitted by Algeria, which demanded “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza. The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, went to Algiers in November, where he was received by the Algerian president, to discuss in particular “the fight against organized crime”, “migration” and the “consequences of the crisis” in the Middle East.
Relations between Paris and Algiers also fluctuate in step with those between France and Morocco, Algeria’s rival. In recent months, France has suffered setbacks with both countries. In February, it restarted a warming process with Rabat, without apparently hampering discussions with Algiers.
