The French minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said Wednesday, in Algiers, that his visit to Algeria was intended to “restore a relationship of trust,” marked by the respect of each other’s sovereignty, expressing wish to work for “removing blockages and clearing up misunderstanding that may exist between the two countries.”
“My visit to Algeria has the dual objective of renewing a relationship of trust between our two countries, marked by respect for the sovereignty of each, but also to look to the future to work on the relaunching and deepening of our essential partnership,” Said Le Drian in a statement to the press following the audience granted him by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“France and Algeria have deep ties driven by the density of human relations between Algerians and French, and rooted in a complex history,” he added.
France’s head of diplomacy also “expressed the wish to work to removing blockages and clearing up misunderstandings that may exist between the two countries”, specifying that during the exchanges, the two parties agreed to resume certain areas of bilateral cooperation.
“This will be reflected in the resumption of an operational dialogue between partners on human and migration issues, and also in the resumption of an operational dialogue on the fight against terrorism and our joint efforts to ensure the security of our two countries,” he said, expressing his “hope that the dialogue we are relaunching today may lead to a resumption of political exchanges between our two governments in 2022.
In this sense, he pointed out that “beyond the wounds of the past that we must face and beyond the misunderstandings that we must overcome”, he once again expressed his wish to see the two countries “return together to the path of a peaceful relationship and to look towards the future”.
“I want to reiterate here that Algeria is an essential partner for France on a bilateral level, but also on a regional level. We intend to continue to coordinate our diplomatic initiatives to promote the process of a political transition in Libya following the Paris Conference at which the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, represented the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“We also reviewed the situation in Mali, where Algeria plays an important role,” he said, stressing that “Algeria’s commitment to the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement is an essential element of the peace process in Mali.
In the same context, he indicated that France and Algeria are facing together “major challenges in an uncertain regional and international environment”, stressing that the two countries “must be able to provide operational responses to the challenges of terrorism in the Sahel region, but also illegal emigration and economic development issues”.
” With regard to all these issues and given that our interests are common, our dialogue is essential and this was the reason for my presence today in Algiers,” added Mr Le Drian who said he was “happy to return to Algeria” where “I had the honour and pleasure of holding long talks with President Tebboune and my counterpart Mr Lamamra”.
“I would like to thank them for their warm welcome,” he reiterated, stressing that “it was important for me to go to Algiers for a working visit and to evaluate the bilateral relationship”.
