French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot expressed hope on Sunday for a “new phase” in relations with Algeria, during a visit aimed at mending a major diplomatic rift.
After a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Barrot said that “we expressed the shared desire to… enter a new phase” and “rebuild a partnership of equals”.
Relations between Paris and Algiers came under strain last year, when France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Sahara, where Algeria has long backed the separatist Polisario Front.
Algeria recalled its ambassador from Paris in protest of the policy shift it has viewed as favouring its North African rival.
Relations soured further in November when Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on national security charges, after he told a French far-right media outlet that Morocco’s territory was truncated in favour of Algeria during French colonial rule. He has since been sentenced to five years in jail.
Barrot asked Tebboune for “a gesture of humanity” in freeing “our countryman Boualem Sansal”, citing the “age and health condition” of the writer, who has cancer.
Declaring the “reactivation of all cooperation mechanisms”, Barrot said that “France wishes to turn the page on current tensions” and reestablish full relations.
The top diplomat met with his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf, and announced a resumption of security cooperation with an upcoming meeting of senior intelligence officials from both countries.
Barrot said that “we will have a strategic dialogue on the Sahel” region, plagued by a transnational jihadist insurgency and where a series of coups saw countries turn away from former colonial power France.
France and Algeria will also resume cooperation on migration and visa issues “within the framework of existing agreements”, Barrot said.
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