The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian is going to Algiers this Wednesday, December 8 in order to “relaunch the Franco-Algerian relationship” which is complex and tense.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of Algeria’s “memory rent” and questioned the “Algerian nation before French colonization”. These words shocked Algiers. Emmanuel Macron regretted “the controversies and misunderstandings generated by the comments reported”.
The head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian is going to Algiers this Wednesday. This is what AFP learned from the French Foreign Ministry. This visit is also mentioned by Algerian media.
This is a “working visit, evaluation and relaunching of relations,” said the Quai d’Orsay. The trip, kept secret until the last moment, will see Jean-Yves Le Drian meet his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra. He also owes Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, according to this source.
Tense relations after the remarks reported by Emmanuel Macron on the Algerian nation
This visit comes at a time when relations between Algiers and Paris have become strained following the words of the French president, at the beginning of October, on the Algerian regime and the question of the colonial past of France in Algeria.
Emmanuel Macron had triggered the anger of the Algerian authorities after the publication of comments reported in an article in the French daily Le Monde dated October 2. As part of a meeting with eighteen young people from families who lived through the Algerian war of independence, the French president accused the Algerian executive of maintaining a “memorial rent”.
The construction of Algeria as a nation is a phenomenon to watch. Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization?
Words reported by Emmanuel Macron by Le Monde, October 2.
Algerian power would serve the people with an “official history that is not based on truths” according to Emmanuel Macron. The French president had also, according to statements reported by the French daily, questioned the origin of the Algerian nation. “The construction of Algeria as a nation is a phenomenon to watch. Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization? That is the question,” said the French president. The French president qualified the Algerian power, resulting from the FLN, of “politico-military system”.
Recall of the Algerian Ambassador to Paris
Algeria then recalled its ambassador to Paris and prohibited the overflight of its territory to French military planes rallying the Sahel.
Emmanuel Marcon hurt the dignity of Algerians. We were not subhumans. We were not nomadic tribes before the French came to Algeria. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in an interview given to Spiegel
In an interview given to the German weekly, Der Spiegel, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, considered “very serious” the remarks reported by Emmanuel Macron. ” Emmanuel Marcon injured the dignity of Algerians. We were not sub-human. We were not nomadic tribes before the French came to Algeria”, had judged the Algerian president in his interview with the German weekly. Abdelmadjid Tebboune added that Algeria would “not take the first step”.
Regrets of Emmanuel Macron
The French president has since expressed his “regrets” at the controversy generated and said he was “strongly attached to the development” of the bilateral relationship.
Visa crisis
Paris and Algiers were also opposed after the announcement by France in early October of the reduction in the number of visas granted to its nationals. Paris intended to put pressure on the Algerian government, deemed uncooperative on the readmission of Algerians expelled from France.
The Algerian government then deplored a decision taken “without prior consultation” before summoning the French ambassador to Algeria.
