Paris Returns To Algeria After Years Of Blindness!

Former French minister Ségolène Royal criticized her country’s government for its delay in correcting its relationship with Algeria, considering that it did so after “years of blindness”.

Ms. Royal said in a post published on her “X” account, “Paris needed many years to recognize that Algeria is a major neighboring country with which cooperation is indispensable.”

She considered that “years of tension between the two countries, in addition to provocative behaviors towards Algeria, cost France the loss of important security cooperation and many economic and energy opportunities.”

Many considered Ms. Royal’s post an indirect response to the statements of Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, in which he acknowledged the importance of cooperation with Algeria, as well as what Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about Algeria’s weight in the security and intelligence fields.

She added that this shift in official French discourse reflects, in her words, the correctness of the positions she had been defending for years, despite being criticized within France for advocating a more balanced approach to dealing with Algeria.

She also pointed out that France is required today to rebuild its relations with Algeria and African countries “with intelligence and creativity,” in light of the decline of French influence in a number of African countries in recent years.

Ms. Royal did not hide that since assuming the presidency of the “France-Algeria” association at the beginning of this year, she has worked to restore channels of communication with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in addition to raising issues she described as “sensitive,” including the Algerian archives, looted property, and judicial cooperation issues.

The former minister’s statements came at a time when Algerian-French relations are witnessing new attempts at de-escalation, especially after French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin made an official visit to Algeria to discuss ways to reactivate judicial and security cooperation between the two countries, after a diplomatic crisis that lasted nearly two years and cast a shadow over various files of bilateral coordination.

French officials had stressed on more than one occasion that Algeria represents a pivotal partner that cannot be overlooked in regional security, counter-terrorism, irregular migration, and organized crime files, while at the same time calling for not using bilateral relations in internal political disputes and calculations.