The head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian called Wednesday, December 8 for a “peaceful relationship” between France and Algeria where he paid a visit intended to defuse a bilateral crisis of rare gravity.
“I hope that our two countries together resume the path of a peaceful relationship and can look to the future,” the French Minister of Foreign Affairs told the press after meeting President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for an hour and a half.
“We hope that the dialogue that we are re-launching today will lead to a resumption of political exchanges between our two governments in 2022, beyond the wounds of the past that we must face in the face, beyond the misunderstandings we have come back to us. to overtake,” he added.
He also affirmed that Algeria was “an essential partner for France at the bilateral level, but also at the regional level”. “France and Algeria together face major challenges in an uncertain regional and international environment. We must be able to offer operational responses to the challenges posed by terrorism in the Sahel region, but also illegal emigration as well as economic development issues,” he said.
“On all these subjects and because our interests are common, our consultation is essential and that was the meaning of my presence today in Algiers”, continued the French Minister. The Algerian authorities have not commented on the content of the talks with Jean-Yves Le Drian, who also had several long talks with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra. “Some face to face,” explains one of his advisers, “because it was necessary to restore personal confidence. This diplomatic source evokes a “working visit” which allowed “to fix everything that was wrong.”