Accompanied by 16 ministers, almost half of her government, Elisabeth Borne begins a two-day visit to Algeria this Sunday to give “a new and possibly concrete impetus to the reconciliation begun in August by the presidents of the two countries.”
This is the first trip abroad for the French Prime Minister, who will start her trip with commemorative gestures. Like President Emmanuel Macron during his visit at the end of August which, after months of tension, allowed relations between the two countries to warm up.
Elisabeth Borne will lay a floral offering at the Monument des Martyrs, a high place of Algerian memory of the war of independence (1954-1962) against France, as well as at the Saint-Eugène cemetery in Algiers, where many French born in Algeria go . .
However, nothing is expected during this visit on the sensitive issue of the memory of the colonization and the war in Algeria. The French and Algerian presidents announced in August the forthcoming installation of a commission of historians from both shores, but “it is still in the process of being set up,” according to Paris.
“Already a step forward” in the political dialogue
The head of the French government should meet during this trip with the Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with whom Emmanuel Macron had concluded on August 27 a “renewed partnership” around six axes that remain to be specified.
Elisabeth Borne will also chair this Sunday, together with her Algerian counterpart Aïmene Benabderrahmane, the meeting of the V High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN), whose last edition dates back to 2017, where it will mainly deal with “economic cooperation”. .
Regardless of its outcome, the celebration of the CIHN in itself “is already a step forward” in political dialogue, welcomes Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (Cermam) in Geneva. A visit to Algiers with some ministers was scheduled for April 2021, but was postponed at the last moment, in a context of tense relations with Algeria.
The CIHN must be concluded through the signing of “agreements”, which will not necessarily be commercial contracts and will be related to training, the energy transition, economic cooperation, youth and education, as well as with the sovereign.
The sensitive issue of visas at the heart of travel
It is up to Paris to give a “new impetus” to the Franco-Algerian relationship “to guide it towards the future towards concrete projects”. However, on the other sensitive issue of visas, “discussions have not yet been successful,” Matignon said Thursday.
At the end of August, the presidents of the two countries paved the way for a relaxation of the visa regime granted to Algeria, in exchange for greater cooperation from Algiers in the fight against illegal immigration.
This issue has poisoned the bilateral relationship since France halved the number of visas granted to Algeria, which it considered not fast enough to readmit its nationals expelled from France.
Gas “not on the agenda”
In gas, the visit of Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by the president of Engie Catherine MacGregor, had generated many expectations about the deliveries of Algerian gas to France, in a context of shortage of Russian gas in Europe. But this file “is not on the agenda” of the visit, according to Matignon, while “talks continue” between Engie and the Algerian group Sonatrach, according to a source close to the file.
Elisabeth Borne takes with her a single large group, Sanofi, which has an insulin factory project, and four SMEs, Générale Energie, which is considering building an olive stone recycling and processing plant, Infinite Orbits, which has project for the first microsatellite in Algeria, Neo-Eco, which works on the treatment of waste such as asbestos, and Avril, which specializes in the processing of cereals.
For its part, Business France, the public structure responsible for international investment, is bringing dozens of companies to the Franco-Algerian Business Forum, which will be inaugurated on Monday by the Prime Ministers of the two countries.
Another axis of the visit, youth, that Elisabeth Borne will meet this Monday at the French high school and then at the embassy, with representatives of Algerian civil society.
“If it is not a question of memory, or security, or our supplies, what good will a trip of such magnitude do?” asked opposition deputy LR Michèle Tabarot this Friday.
Source: BFM TV
