Five Important Files Await Macron In His Visit To Algeria On August 25

French President Emmanuel Macron will pay an official visit to Algeria on August 25, at the head of a crucial ministerial delegation led by Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and other government officials, informed sources told Echoroukonline.

Macron’s visit is of great importance given the thorny issues expected to be discussed between the two countries, including bilateral and economic relations and international files, in addition to memory and the file of people’s movement, the same sources added.

Given the tense relations between Paris and Algiers, the two parties will work, first, to restore the warmth of bilateral ties, after the period of stalemate that characterized them due to President Macron’s offensive statements about Algeria’s history, which prompted Algeria to recall its former ambassador to Paris, Antar Daoud, for consultations.

In this context, Macron’s visit aims, above all, to consolidate or restore trust between the two countries, with the need for full respect for their sovereignty while dealing with the principle of equality.

Restoring the warmth of Algerian-French relations and overcoming the stage of stagnation will inevitably pass on the opening of the memory file, as Algeria is waiting for President Macron to take steps toward its demands during his second term, knowing that President Tebboune attaches great importance to this file, as he has previously stated that the quality of relations between Algeria and France are linked to dealing with the memory file that has been stuck for decades, including the liberation revolution issues that are among the files that disturb the peace of Algerian-French relations due to the intransigence of the French side and its reluctance to take concrete and real steps, especially about the issue of archives and compensation related to nuclear tests in southern Algeria and the rest of the files related to memory.

The third file, which will be discussed during the French President’s visit to Algeria, is related to the movement of people and finding solutions to the visa issue, knowing that Paris decided to reduce the quota of visas granted to Algerians by about 50%, as more than 32,000 visa applications were rejected in 2021, according to the “Schengen Visa Info” website, and that in response to Algeria’s refusal to cooperate in the field of deporting illegal immigrants, according to the Paris scenario, which Algeria had previously refuted in whole and detail.

Another chapter of the Algerian-French relations related to the economic issue will be opened again on this occasion to study the reason for cooperation, especially in the aspect related to French investments in Algeria and cooperation in the energy field, knowing that French investments have declined a lot in recent years in favour of other economic powers such as China, Turkey and Italy.

Advancing the economic partnership between Paris and Algeria requires activating the high-level intergovernmental committee between the two countries, which has not met since 2017, as the April 2021 summit was cancelled due to the “health crisis”, according to the French government, while sources revealed that the postponement came after Algeria rejected that “summit”, because of the agenda listed by the French government, which does not live up to what Algeria aspires to in its partnerships with France.

The other file on the agenda relates to international issues in general, regional crises such as the Libyan file, the security situation in the Sahel, especially in Mali, the recent dangerous developments, and Algeria’s efforts to bring the Malian parties together and help all parties to return to the implementation of the Algiers Agreement, as happened in the last meeting held in Algeria, in which it concluded, with the signature of the Malian government and the movements that signed the Algiers Agreement, several decisions that would put an end to the violence that the country is witnessing, especially during the last week.

For these reasons, the Mali crisis will be an important focus of the talks given the French role in Mali and the diplomatic crisis between Bamako and Paris regarding the French presence in Mali. The importance that Algeria attaches to the Mali file is the same as the importance it attaches to the crisis in Libya, where Algeria is supporting the efforts of the United Nations to hold elections in which the Libyan people decide the fate of their country with the necessity of the withdrawal of mercenaries and the adventure of foreign forces on Libyan territory.

Therefore, these are the five basic files that will be put on the table between Paris and Algeria in the hope of finding solutions to the mentioned differences and opening new horizons for win-win cooperation.