French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Algeria today for a three-day official visit aimed at “rebuilding” a bilateral relationship that has suffered from disagreements linked to the burden of the past.
The plane of the French head of state, who is accompanied by a delegation of more than 90 people, landed at noon in Algiers.
The French president was welcomed at the airport by his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Teboun with military honors. The two men hugged each other before moving under an awning to the backing of the national anthems of the two countries by the military band.
For Paris, the visit has the main objective of “rebuilding” the bilateral relationship based on “youth and the future”.
For Algiers, the visit confirms its strategic and diplomatic importance in North Africa and the Sahel.
The two leaders then went to the Martyrs’ Monument, an important place for Algerians dedicated to the war of independence (1954-1962) against France.
This will be followed by a face-to-face meeting, a statement to the media and then dinner at the People’s Palace.
The visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of the end of the war and Algeria’s declaration of independence in 1962. But the French president says he is primarily determined to direct this visit “to the youth and the future”.
On the Algerian side, Macron’s arrival was hailed as a sign of the will to “promote a new vision based on equal treatment and the balance of interests,” according to Algeria’s official APS news agency.
Macron’s choice to make this trip at the start of his second five-year term also corresponds, according to Algiers, to a “recognition of Algeria’s important role in the region” and a “dynamic return of Algerian diplomacy to the international arena”.
Given the risk of instability in the Maghreb, the conflicts in the Sahel and the war in Ukraine, the improvement of relations between France and Algeria is imposed as a political necessity”, analyzes the Algerian political scientist Mansour Kedidir.
Since the start of the war with Russia, Algeria, the first natural gas producer in Africa and one of the top ten in the world, has been sought after by Europeans who want to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.
Algerian natural gas is not “really the subject of the visit” and “there will be no major contract announcements or major negotiation”, the Elysee says, although the head of energy giant Engie, Catherine McGregor, is part of the delegation accompanying him. Macron.
The two presidents will also discuss the situation in Mali, where the French army recently withdrew, and the growing Russian threat in Africa.
Algeria has a central role in the region due to its thousands of kilometers of border with Mali, Niger and Libya. It also maintains a close relationship with Russia, its number one arms supplier.
Redress
It is Macron’s second visit to Algiers as president, following a first visit in December 2017.
Relations between the two countries were heralded as promising at the time with a new French president, born after 1962 and freed from the burden of history, which had branded French colonialism a “crime against humanity”.
But relations came to an abrupt halt, trapped by memories that remain hard to reconcile after 132 years of colonial rule, a bloody war and the departure of a million French people from Algeria in 1962.
Still a candidate in the presidential elections, Macron of course called colonialism a “crime against humanity” and during his first term intensified gestures of reconciliation.
But the apology expected by Algeria for colonialism was never given, despite the hand extended by the French president, and this issue added to the misunderstandings.
In October 2021, statements by Macron blaming the Algerian “politico-military system” for its stance on the issue of memory and his questions about the existence of an Algerian nation before colonialism led to the rupture.
Since then the tenant of the Elysee has made amends and the two presidents have decided to restore cooperation between the two countries.
The sensitive issue of visas granted by France will also be at the center of the debate, as Emmanuel Macron decided in 2021 to halve visas in the face of Algeria’s reluctance to readmit unwanted nationals to France.
During his visit, Macron will also meet on Friday with Algerian young entrepreneurs.
Source: RES-MPE
Source: Capital
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