Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announce their desire to continue to “strengthen bilateral cooperation”

French Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune turned the page on Friday March 24 on the latest diplomatic crisis between the two countries and announced their desire to continue to “strengthen cooperation” bilateral, according to the Elysée.

They raised during a telephone interview the “misunderstandings” linked to the falling out around the Franco-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui and are “agreed to strengthen communication channels (…) to prevent this type of regrettable misunderstanding from happening again”added the French presidency in a communicated.

Despite a ban on leaving the territory in Algeria, M^me Bouraoui had entered Tunisia on February 3, before being arrested when she tried to board in the direction of Paris. She was finally able to fly to France on February 6 despite an attempt by the Tunisian authorities to deport her to Algeria.

Algiers had judged that his departure for France constituted a “illegal exfiltration” carried out with the help of French diplomatic and security personnel and recalled its ambassador to Paris, Saïd Moussi, for consultation.

Return to France of the Algerian Ambassador

“President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has informed the Head of State of the return to France of the Algerian Ambassador in the coming days”said the Elysée, confirming a statement to this effect from Mr. Tebboune this week.

M^me Bouraoui rose to prominence in 2014 when she opposed a fourth term for then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika before becoming involved in the Hirak protest movement. She was sentenced in June 2020 to one year in prison before being granted provisional release in July of the same year.

After a severe cold snap in the fall of 2021, Paris and Algiers had sealed a warming of their relations on the occasion of Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Algiers in August 2022, before this new estrangement.

According to the Elysée, the two presidents “reported on the bilateral relationship and on the implementation of the Algiers declaration signed during the visit of the President of the Republic to Algeria last August. They stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in all areas, in view of the state visit to France by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune..

“The two presidents also addressed regional stability issues, in particular the fight against terrorism in the Sahel”concludes the French presidency.