After two days there, Elisabeth Borne leaves Algiers. To the sound of the Algerian Republican Guard, at the El Mouradia Palace, the Prime Minister is received one last time before her departure by the President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Monday October 10. A meeting as a last symbol of this renewed heat between Paris and Algiers. The objective of this ministerial visit – 15 members of the government were present alongside Elisabeth Borne – was to show that everything is better between the two countries.
>> Elisabeth Borne’s visit to Algiers: the delicate relations between France and Algeria
There was also a lot of talk about symbols during these two days of visit. Much less, on the other hand, of concrete agreements, ringing and stumbling. Twelve protocols have nevertheless been signed between the two parties, including many declarations of intent. Nothing spectacular on the bottom.
This is a first step, according to the Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane, who wants to believe that the contracts will come next. “There are ongoing discussions in areas where we have not yet signed agreements, discussions between departments to achieve signatureshe assures. There will also be visits from ministers on both sides to move towards these new horizons.
The Algerian Prime Minister also took the opportunity to send a message to French investors, like an invitation: “Welcome to French investors in Algeria” Call heard by Elisabeth Borne who answered him during a press conference: “Algeria is engaged in an ambitious diversification of its economy. French companies are ready to take part in this movement, to help amplify it“, she declares.
Rebuilding a new economic link between the two countries will therefore be one of the projects for the years to come, while French market shares are crumbling in Algeria. Other files remain to be dealt with, such as that of visas, where everything is still to be done. Paris wants to condition the granting of additional visas to the good will of Algeria to take back its nationals who arrived illegally in France. The Prime Minister expressed confidence in a rapid outcome.
There remains the real announcement of these two days on the question of memory. The establishment of a commission of historians that the two countries wish to set up to iron out memorial tensions is on the right track. “We discussed names and we are in the process of stabilizing the composition. It’s really a matter of days to be able to set it up“, explained Elisabteh Borne. A commission which will perhaps allow to finally write this new page of history between the two countries.