Elisabeth Borne: Visa Problems With Algeria Will Be Resolved Quickly
The issue of granting visas for Algerians will be resolved within the next few weeks, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, during an interview with Radio France International “RFI”, after her two-day official visit to Algeria in the last few days.
Indeed, questioned about the issue of visas, which was considered very important on both sides of the Mediterranean and the possible blockages or misunderstandings that exist between Paris and Algiers on this subject, the French Prime Minister responded that she thinks that the discussions, which have taken place between Gérald Darmanin and his counterpart have been very useful, “I think we understand each other well, and we were able to share our mutual expectations, and I have no doubt that this is something that will be resolved quickly”, she added.
Then, the RFI special reporter to Algeria continued on this subject; “In the next few weeks? In the coming months?”, Elisabeth Borne replied that this will certainly be done in the weeks to come.
Previously, on October 9 and 10, the French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, made an official visit to Algiers. During this visit, the 5th session of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN) was held, as well as the Algerian-French economic forum. The head of the French government was accompanied by 16 members of her government, including Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, who met with his Algerian counterpart, Brahim Merad.
Algeria’s Interior Minister Brahim Merad is expected to visit Paris in the coming days as the last official visit by an Algerian Interior Minister dates back to 2016.
The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin posted a tweet saying; “As part of Elisabeth Borne’s visit to Algeria, I discussed with my counterpart Brahim Merad the implementation of the ‘human dimension and mobility’ pillar of the Algiers Declaration adopted during the recent visit of work and friendship of Emmanuel Macron”.
“The talks focused in particular on the third chapter of the Algiers Declaration, relating to the human dimension and mobility (visas)”, he added.
“The distinguished and exceptional partnership, to which we aspire, must not come up against easy difficulties to overcome, such as the question of the granting of visas”, Prime Minister Aïmene Benabderrahamne previously said. Also, he encouraged the French government to “relaunch the dialogue on issues related to the movement of people, immigration, visas and several issues related to the history of Algeria, including the recovery of archives “. A relaunch should take place on the occasion of the expected visit to Paris of Brahim Merad, Minister of the Interior, Local Authorities and Regional Planning, to meet with his French counterpart Gérald Darmanin on the question.
Brahim Merad’s visit will be capable of advancing the sensitive issues which were not officially addressed during the visit of the head of the French government, who affirmed, yesterday, in an interview with RFI, that “it is something which will be able to be settled in the coming weeks”. Especially since the two parties have agreed on a “concrete” relaunch of bilateral relations since Elisabeth Borne said that the holding of the 5th meeting of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (Cihn), Sunday in Algiers, marked a new milestone in Algeria-French partnership work, a stage made up of visits and regular exchanges at the economic, political and technical level.