This Is What Algeria Wants From The French Interior Minister’s Visit!

French authorities are eagerly awaiting the visit of Laurent Nuñez, the Minister of Interior in Sébastien Lecornu’s government, to Algeria, scheduled for February 17 and 18. They hope for a breakthrough on multiple fronts, which would restore a glimmer of hope for preserving their interests, which have been severely damaged.

In the context of this visit, the French quickly pressured their minister to emphasize their demands, which have become known to everyone and hide great selfishness and a tendency to try to entrench a neo-colonial approach based on imposing the logic of those who consider themselves strong, but are in reality quite the opposite.

However, on the other hand, Algeria views the French official’s visit as a response to an urgent French desire to rebuild the broken bridges between the two countries, ever since French President Emmanuel Macron decided to blatantly side with the Moroccan regime on the Western Sahara issue, disregarding international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

In this regard, Mr. Redouane Bouhidjel, a professor of political science at the University of Algiers, believes that “the visit of the French Interior Minister, who succeeded Bruno Retailleau, comes in an important context for both countries, given the accumulation of files awaiting resolution by both parties, especially since the new minister wants to open channels of dialogue with the Algerian authorities with less hostility than his predecessor at the Beauvau Palace.”

Among the most important files, the political analyst added in communication with “Echorouk”: “The issue of immigration and cooperation in this field remains urgent for the Paris authorities, because France has often spoken about requests for the deportation of individuals against whom decisions to leave French territory have been issued, and accelerating the issuance of consular permits in this regard, as well as strengthening security cooperation and coordination regarding irregular immigration.

This is a sensitive file for French domestic politics because of the great public interest in it.”

In addition, it can be noted that “strengthening security and intelligence cooperation in the field of combating organized and cross-border crime, and combating smuggling networks of all kinds,” is an indicator that “France views Algeria as an indispensable security actor in the region, and I am talking here about the Mediterranean basin and the Sahel region, especially after the decline of the French presence in this particular African region.”

In the opinion of the political science professor, the French official’s visit aims to “try to rebuild political trust. The visit carries a political dimension aimed at alleviating repeated tensions from the French side towards Algeria, and keeping communication channels always open while preventing political tensions from leading to a rupture, which remains a possibility between the two parties.”

Algeria, however, has another vision. It seeks “to deal on an equal footing and with respect for national sovereignty,” says Mr. Bouhidjel, “without interference in the country’s internal affairs. This is a constant demand we have observed in Algerian discourse through the rejection of a narrow security approach to the relationship between the two parties and the emphasis on an equal partnership, not a relationship of immigration in exchange for cooperation, which is unacceptable in Algeria’s view.”

According to the latter, the Algerian side believes that “cooperation remains possible, and coordination as well, but within mutual political and symbolic respect for other files that seem secondary to the French side, but are important for the relationship between the two parties, foremost among them the memory file with all its ramifications, especially the cleaning of areas where French nuclear tests were conducted in southern Algeria, and the repatriation of the remains of martyrs.”

The other file that the Algerian side wants to raise strongly is “the necessity of greater facilities for the Algerian community in France, and Algeria seeks through this type of visit to improve travel and visa conditions in particular, and to protect the rights of Algerians in France, and to reduce the repressive security nature in dealing with the Algerian community there, and from this, cooperation can be extended to other files such as judicial cooperation, exchange of security information, and technical, security, and intelligence partnerships, and the goal behind all of this is to transform the relationship from an immigration file to a multi-dimensional institutional relationship.”

The professor of political science concludes by saying that there are other files that do not concern the French Interior Minister, but are on the agenda of the French presidency (Élysée Palace), and “I mean by that the illegal and illegitimate French position on the Western Sahara issue, and the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.”

For his part, Member of Parliament and Professor of Political Science at “University of Algiers 3”, Mr. Mohamed Rebidj, believes that the French Interior Minister’s visit is merely one of the fruits of the visit of the former socialist candidate for the 2007 French presidential elections, as she enabled the breakthrough of silence at the level of the French government.

In the opinion of the MP, Ms. Royal’s visit revealed a truth, which is that the French side wants to impose dictates, which the Algerian side detests. Ms. Royal’s cry, the speaker added, was picked up at the highest level in France, specifically at the Élysée Palace and even at the level of French public opinion, as evidenced by the answer being faster than we expected, with the French Interior Minister’s visit to Algeria, according to him.

Mr. Rebidj considers the visit to be “a step in the right direction that will determine subsequent steps, and the Algerian state will prepare well for this visit, especially regarding the file of Algerian nationals residing illegally on French territory, In addition to raising the issue of criminals wanted by the Algerian judiciary.”