Benabderahmane And Borne On A Mission To Embody The Terms Of Macron’s Visit To Algeria

The Algerian-French rapprochement has accelerated remarkably since the visit of the first man in the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron, to Algeria at the end of last month, in what seemed to be an attempt to make up for the losses, and the next step will be another visit to be paid to Algeria by the French Prime Minister, Elizabeth Borne.
The French Prime Minister said that she “wishes” to land in Algeria before the end of the current year, according to what the French newspaper “Le Figaro” reported on the Matignon (Government Palace) website, which also reported that the Prime Minister will be accompanied by a large government delegation.
Elizabeth Borne’s trip is still “under study”, adds the Matignon Palace, which did not specify a date for the promised visit, although it indicated that there is coordination between the two countries in order to prepare well for the convening of the high-level government committee, which is expected to meet this autumn on the sidelines of Borne’s planned visit.
Among the files that are expected to receive a share in the discussions during this visit, is the issue of increasing France’s supply of Algerian gas, as well as the thorny file related to French visa restrictions imposed unilaterally on Algerian nationals, after Paris decided to reduce them in half about a year ago. This issue was avoided during Macron’s visit due to its sensitivity, for fear of affecting its success.
The visit of the French Prime Minister has a technical rather than a political and diplomatic character. The files that were agreed upon during President Macron’s visit today need to be put into practice, through the officials of the ministerial sectors who will accompany Elizabeth Borne to Algeria, as quoted by the Matignon Palace.
On top of these files is the visa issue, which was the reason for the Algerian authorities to summon the French ambassador about a year ago, in response to Paris’s decision to cut it in half “without justification”, and PM Borne will find this complex file at the top of the Algerian demands during that visit.
It is also expected that there will be a development at the level of the Algerian-French joint commission composed of historians from the two countries to deal with the memory file, with the French party’s keenness to move forward with it, in response to the condition presented by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, which is to include the entire period of its work during the occupation period ( 1830/1962), but this project is still in stature.
Before President Macron’s visit to Algeria, Algerian-French relations witnessed a severe diplomatic crisis, which reached the point of withdrawing the Algerian ambassador, Mohamed Antar Daoud, from Paris, in October 2021, against the background of provocative and “irresponsible” statements by the French president, in which he questioned the existence of a Algerian nation before the French occupation in 1830.
During the crisis, French interests in Algeria were greatly eroded, as Paris lost many of its privileges, such as not renewing the contract of the “Suez” company active in the water sector, as well as not renewing the contract of the “RATP” company, which was then running the Algiers metro’s metropolis, as well as other services.
Algerian-French relations are considered one of the most complex diplomatic relations, and although they are affected by everything small and large, they remain able to withstand difficulties, including the memory file, one of the most intricate issues that have often poisoned bilateral relations for decades.