Algerian-French Partnership: Benabderrahmane Raises The Visa, Immigration Issues
Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane called on the French authorities to remove what he described as “difficulties” related to granting visas to Algerians.
This came during his meeting with his counterpart Elisabeth Borne, who started on Sunday an official two-day visit to Algeria, at the head of an important delegation comprising 16 ministers who were part of the fifth summit of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN), a meeting body between the governments of Paris and Algiers set up in 2013 to promote cooperation between the states on the two shores, that was held in Algiers with the aim of to flesh out the six points of the Algiers Declaration, signed on August 27 during Macron’s state visit to Algeria.
Benabderrahmane said in his speech on the occasion: “The distinguished and exceptional partnership that we aspire to, should not collide with difficulties that are easy to overcome, such as the issue of granting visas, or also the issue of the security map implemented by the French authorities, which does not at all reflect the reality of Algeria today”.
“We must revive the dialogue on issues related to the movement of persons, immigration and readmission of persons, according to the Algiers Declaration, in an atmosphere of trust and pragmatism”, he added.
“In this regard, we assure you of our determination to work together on these issues. This is because Algeria, despite the health situation that the world has known, has always shown a real will to combat the phenomenon of illegal immigration through its comprehensive commitment to this issue”.
The French Prime Minister’s visit led to the signing of several agreements and the coordination of government agendas on the security issue as well.
At a press conference held on the sidelines of these meetings, the Algerian Prime Minister, Aymen Benabderrahmane, confirmed that France and Algeria share a common vision on a large number of regional issues, including the situation in Libya. In this respect, Benabderrahmane maintained to the media that the Franco-Algerian summit allows a common roadmap to be drawn up with a view to the 2030 objectives. Along with the fight against terrorism and French concerns in the Sahel region, the Libyan dossier was the main security issue discussed by the leaders.
In principle, both Algeria and France would agree that elections in Libya, as secure and reliable as possible, are necessary for the North African region. Both governments would maintain a consensus on the resolutions of the Berlin Conferences (2021) on the inviolability of Libya’s territorial integrity. Because of their long-shared borders.
Algeria is one of the countries most concerned about stability in Libya. For Algiers, the political disaster in its neighbouring country translates into displaced persons, refugees and a serious threat to its internal security.
This fifth high-level meeting between the Algerian and French governments led to the signing of up to 12 agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries. The texts signed articulate in detail the cooperation signed in the Algiers Declaration of August. The fields covered by the agreements range from primary and higher education to agriculture, from business meetings to the restructuring of a common memory of understanding between France and Algeria.
