Algiers, France- On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Algeria for a three-day visit to straighten bilateral relations.
Accompanied by seven Ministers, Macron arrived at the Houari Boumediene Airport in the capital Algiers, where he was received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Macron is also accompanied by a delegation of about 90 people, including telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, French Olympic boxer Sarah Ourahmoune, and novelist Kamel Daoud. The delegation’s varied composition points to a focus on soft power to heal tensions and renew a complex relationship often bristling with emotion yet underpinned by strong economic ties and the presence of a large Algerian diaspora in France.
The French leader, on his second visit to Algeria since he took power in 2017, has chosen to direct this visit towards the future, focusing on start-ups, innovation, youth, and new sectors.
In addition, Macron and Tebboune will discuss the situation in Mali as well as Russia, Algeria’s top arms supplier, and also France’s latest efforts to fill a vast shortfall in gas supplies to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions erupted last year after Macron accused the Algerian government of exploiting the memory of the colonial period and rewriting of history based not on facts but on discourse that depended on hatred of France resulting in Algeria recalling its Ambassador in protest for three months.
Immigration has also been a sore point. France in October slashed the number of visas given to Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans in response to what Paris saw as their refusal to take back illegal migrants. Since March, Algeria has issued temporary papers for about 300 of its citizens to allow them to be deported from France, up from only 17 last year and 91 in 2020.
“The French side may want to put some more positivity back in the relationship, but in my experience, Algeria only responds when forced by the power dynamics,” said Xavier Driencourt, who served as France’s Ambassador to Algeria from 2008 to 2012 and 2017 to 2020.
Macron has prioritized repairing the historical wounds between France and Algeria since he was elected in 2017. He described colonialism as a crime against humanity but stopped short of apologizing for France’s 130 years in Algeria. He became the first French leader to acknowledge publicly the State’s role in torture during the war that preceded Algerian independence in 1962.