FIs this a sign of a thaw in relations between France and Algeria? The head of French diplomacy is paying this Wednesday, December 8, a visit to Algiers after more than two months of intense tension which culminated with the recall of the Algerian ambassador to Paris. Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit aims to “relaunch the Franco-Algerian relationship”, according to information from Agence France-Presse collected from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a “working visit, assessment and relaunching of relations,” said the Quai d’Orsay. The trip, kept secret until the last moment, will see the head of French diplomacy meet his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra as well as Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, according to this source. In a press release published by the official APS agency, the Algerian Foreign Ministry confirmed this “working visit and assessment of bilateral relations”.
Diplomatic crisis
President Emmanuel Macron sparked the ire of Algiers in October by accusing, according to comments reported by the French daily The world, the Algerian “politico-military” system of maintaining a “memorial rent” around the war for independence and France, a former colonial power, and while Paris has undertaken work to try to appease this memorial question by France. According to the daily, he had also questioned the existence of an “Algerian nation” before French colonization, causing strong reactions in Algerian society.
In protest, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Paris on October 3 and banned the overflight of its territory to French military planes rallying the Sahel.
Paris wants to defuse the crisis as soon as possible
The French president has since expressed his “regrets” at the controversy generated and said he was “strongly attached to the development” of the bilateral relationship. Paris and Algiers were also opposed after the announcement by France in early October of the reduction in the number of visas granted to its nationals to put pressure on the Algerian government, deemed uncooperative on the readmission of Algerians expelled from France. . Algiers then deplored a decision taken “without prior consultation”, which “includes the crippling anomaly of having been the subject of media hype”, before summoning the French ambassador to Algeria.
The French presidency had let it be known on November 9 that President Macron “regrets the controversies and misunderstandings” with Algeria and assures that he has “the greatest respect for the Algerian nation” and “its history”. The Algerian foreign minister welcomed these statements “showing respect” to his country and went to Paris to attend the conference on Libya. A few days later, Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a “trusting” relationship and an “ambitious partnership” with Algeria, beyond the memory “wounds” which can “sometimes” reappear. The Algerian head of state had warned in early November that he would not take “the first step” to try to calm tensions with his French counterpart, before sending the sign of a possible detente by predicting “a return to normal ”relations with France provided that they are done on an“ equal to equal ”basis.
Relations between Paris and Algiers have known a lot of turbulence. The last crisis as serious as the current one dates from February 23, 2005, when the French Parliament adopted a law recognizing “the positive role of colonization”.
A busy diplomatic agenda
Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit comes as important anniversaries approach, such as those of the Evian accords of March 18, 1962, ending the Algerian war. President Macron has multiplied memorial initiatives, in an unprecedented step in France to try to appease the memory of this conflict which still affects millions of inhabitants. He commissioned the historian Benjamin Stora for a report on the issue and made several symbolic gestures towards Algeria, such as the return of the remains of independence fighters from the 19th century.e century or the recognition of the assassination of Algerian lawyer Ali Boumendjel in 1957. He also denounced for the first time “crimes inexcusable for the Republic”, on the occasion of an official ceremony for the 60th anniversary of the massacre by the French police of Algerian demonstrators, October 17, 1961 in Paris.
