Algerian ambassador to return to France in coming days
By: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, on Friday, had phone talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, during which a number of issues of common interest were tackled, the Presidency of the Republic said in a statement.
“President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune had, Friday afternoon, phone talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, during which a number of issues of common interest, including the way a national holder of dual citizenship, Algerian and French, was exfiltrated by French consular services from Tunisia, on 6 February 2023, were touched on,” the statement said.
The two Presidents discussed the conditions of departure from Tunisia and arrival in France, with the support of French consular services in Tunisia, of a Franco-Algerian national, on February 6. This exchange made it possible to clear up misunderstandings. They agreed to strengthen the communication channels between the administrations concerned to prevent this type of regrettable misunderstanding from happening again.
The President of the Republic “informed his French counterpart of the upcoming return of Algeria’s ambassador to Paris.”
The two presidents took stock of the bilateral relationship and the implementation of the Algiers Declaration signed during the visit of President Macron 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 Tebboune.
In addition, the phone talks were an opportunity to discuss regional and international issues of common interest,” the statement concluded.
While everything was going better between France and Algeria, the illegal exfiltration of Amira Bouraoui from Tunis to Paris once again weakened relations between the two countries. France’s Emmanuel Macron went to Algeria at the end of last summer. He had left North Africa after having jointly signed with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune a declaration to revive relations between the two countries. However, a new episode of tense relations between Algeria and France sparked as French diplomats and security personnel at the French embassy in Tunis secretly and illegally exfiltrated Amira Bouraoui, despite the existence of an Algerian court subpoena against her.
The French goons went too far, and their insolence exceeded the limits of description, after the attribution of the title “the journalist” to Amira Bouraoui and her invitation to the public TV channels to “express herself” in a failed attempt to legitimize the crime they committed, namely; her exfiltration from Tunisia to France.
France resorted to the policy of double standards, as it took unilateral decisions that do not respect the sovereignty of the Algerian justice and state, criticizing and applying laws with discrimination and favoritism.
As a reaction, French President Emmanuel Macron, on his part, tackled, on Monday, February 27 during a speech devoted to his country’s African policy, Amira Bouraoui affair, claiming to have taken “a firedamp blow”.
“There was a controversy over the return to France of a Franco-Algerian from Tunisia, with also a lot of things that were told and a speech that was built”, nuanced President Macron. A posture that shows the embarrassment of the head of state, who did not even dare to pronounce the name of Amira Bouraoui.
“I think there are a lot of people who have an interest in what we have been doing for years now with Algeria not succeeding,” Macron argues without giving further details.
“Well I have a very simple message: I will continue, this is not the first firedamp, I have already had it but we must continue there also humbly, pragmatically,” he said.
Noting that ties between the two countries had been frosty since autumn 2021, but warmed when Macron visited Algiers last August.
They witnessed unprecedented tensions after the provocative and irresponsible statements uttered by the Elysee Palace inmate Emmanuel Macron, who questioned the existence of an Algerian nation before the brutal French occupation of Algeria in 1830.
In his gaffe, France’s President Emmanuel Macron made critical remarks about Algeria, during a meeting with descendants of Harkis (people who fought with the French army against Algerian revolutionists).
Macron’s comments sparked anger among the Algerian officials and people. The Algerian Presidency of the Republic, which announced that it had summoned Algeria’s ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Antar Daoud, for consultations, took a second decision to close Algerian airspace to the French military warplanes, in response to these irresponsible and provocative statements by the French President Emmanuel Macron.
