French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne begins a two-day visit to Algeria on Sunday, October 9 to give “new and concrete impetus” to the reconciliation initiated in August by Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Emmanuel Macron.
This is a very strategic first trip abroad for the French Prime Minister. Accompanied by 16 ministers, i.e. almost half of her government, Elisabeth Borne will begin her journey with memorial gestures, as President Emmanuel Macron did during his visit at the end of August which, after months of tension, made it possible to warm relations between the two countries.
Meeting with Tebboune
Elisabeth Borne will lay a wreath at the Monument des Martyrs, a high place of Algerian memory of the war of independence (1954-1962) facing France, as well as at the Saint-Eugène cemetery in Algiers, where many
However, nothing is expected during this visit on the sensitive question of the memory of colonization and the war in Algeria. The French and Algerian presidents had announced in August the forthcoming installation of a commission of historians from both shores, but it is “still in the process of being set up”, according to Paris.
The head of the French government should during this trip meet the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with whom Emmanuel Macron had concluded on August 27 a “renewed partnership” around six axes which remain to be concretized.
“Economic cooperation”
Elisabeth Borne will also chair on Sunday, with her Algerian counterpart Aïmene Benabderrahmane, the meeting of the fifth High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN), the last edition of which dates back to 2017, where it will mainly be a question of “economic cooperation”.
Whatever its outcome, the holding of the CIHN “is already a step forward” in the political dialogue, welcomes Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (Cermam) in Geneva.
A visit to Algiers with a few ministers had been planned for April 2021 but postponed at the last minute, in the context of strained relations with Algeria.
The CIHN must be concluded by the signing of “agreements”, which will not necessarily be business contracts and will relate to training, energy transition, economic cooperation, youth, and education, as well as the sovereign. It is for Paris to give a “new impetus” to the Franco-Algerian relationship “to turn it towards the future towards concrete projects”.
The delicate issue of visas
However, on the other delicate question of visas, “the discussions have not yet succeeded”, said Matignon on Thursday. At the end of August, the presidents of the two countries paved the way for a relaxation of the visa regime granted to Algeria, in exchange for increased cooperation from Algiers in the fight against illegal immigration.
This question has poisoned the bilateral relationship since France halved the number of visas granted to Algeria, which was deemed not prompt enough to readmit its nationals expelled from France.
On gas, the visit of Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by the president of Engie Catherine MacGregor, had generated a lot of expectations on deliveries of Algerian gas to France, in the context of a scarcity of Russian gas in Europe.
But this file “is not on the agenda” of the visit, according to Matignon, while “discussions continue” between Engie and Sonatrach, according to a source close to the file.
Franco-Algerian Business Forum
Elisabeth Borne is taking with her only one large group, Sanofi, which has an insulin factory project, and four SMEs, Générale Energie, which is considering the construction of a plant for recycling and processing olive pits. Infinite Orbits, which has a project for Algeria’s first microsatellite, Neo-Eco, which works on the treatment of waste such as asbestos, and Avril, which specializes in the processing of cereals.
For its part, Business France, a public structure responsible for international investment, is taking dozens of companies to the Franco-Algerian Business Forum, which will be inaugurated on Monday by the Prime Ministers of the two countries.
“If it’s not a question of memory, or security, or our supplies, what is the point of a trip of such magnitude?“, wondered Friday the deputy of the opposition LR (right) Michèle Tabarot.
