The visit of the French Prime Minister allowed the signing of several agreements and the coordination of government agendas on the issue of security
Accompanied by 15 ministers and even more members of the French business community, Macron’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne visited Algeria on Sunday 9. The fifth summit of the High Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN) , meeting body between the governments of Paris and Algiers created in 2013 to promote cooperation between the States of the two shores, was held there. The objective of this fifth meeting was to flesh out the six points of the Algiers declaration, signed on August 27 during Macron’s state visit to the former French colony.
During a press conference held on the sidelines of these meetings, the Algerian Prime Minister, Aimene Benabderrahmane, declared that France and Algeria share a common vision on a large number of regional issues, including the situation in Libya . In this regard, Benabderrahmane maintained in front of the media that the Franco-Algerian summit makes it possible to draw up a common roadmap with a view to the 2030 objectives. With the fight against terrorism and French concerns in the Sahel region, the Libyan file was the main security issue addressed by the leaders.
In principle, Algeria and France would agree that elections in Libya, as secure and reliable as possible, are necessary for the North African country. The two governments would maintain a consensus on the resolutions of the Berlin conferences (2021) on the inviolability of the territorial integrity of Libya. Due to their long common borders, Algeria is one of the countries most concerned with stability in Libya. For Algiers, the political disaster in its neighboring country translates into displaced people, refugees and a serious threat to its internal security. In 2021, the Tebboune government tried unsuccessfully to position itself as a mediator between the national unity government and Marshal Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army. Unfortunately, Libya continues to sink into violence in its big cities and into its crisis of governance which opposes two parallel authorities.
Benabderrahmane’s statements are a surprise, but they could relieve Haftar’s camp. France, with the United Arab Emirates, positioned itself from the start of the Libyan crisis as the Marshal’s main international support. The positions of other international actors close to the pan-Arab Islamist organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and Qatar, were in opposition. The Algerian Prime Minister’s message could now mean increased support for French positions in Libya, which advocate abandoning the armed path, while Turkey maintains a military encirclement around Tripoli.
Development poles
This fifth high-level meeting between governments led to the signing of 12 agreements and memorandums of understanding between France and Algeria. The signed texts articulate in detail the cooperation signed in the August Algiers Declaration. The areas covered by the agreements range from primary and higher education to agriculture, from business meetings to the restructuring of a common memory of understanding between France and Algeria.
The question of the regulated movement of people between the two countries remains a stumbling block between Paris and Algiers. A crisis erupted between the two governments over the 50% reduction in the issuance of French visas to Algerian citizens, while Paris accused its Maghreb partners of not accepting the return of Algerians expelled from the country by French justice.
If gas was also one of the main topics expected for this summit, the Hôtel de Matignon, seat of the French government, threw a bucket of cold water on speculations of major advances on this file, although a large group of energy company representatives met in Algiers with government authorities.
