French President Emmanuel Macron began his second state visit to Algeria on Thursday. The unusually long stay of three days in the former colony is intended to put the recently tense relationship between the two countries on a new footing. In December 2017, Macron was only in the largest country in Africa in terms of area for a few hours.
France has been demanding a critical analysis of the war of independence there for years, in which up to 45,000 people died according to Algerian estimates. Although Macron was the first French President to express his regret for the victims, he has not yet formally apologized for French war crimes. In October he had triggered a diplomatic scandal himself. During an official meeting with descendants of French settlers in Algeria, he spoke of a distorted narrative of the Algerian state’s past. According to eyewitnesses, Algeria did not exist before the colonization. Algeria used colonial rule between 1830 and 1962 to assert its own interests. The diplomatic affront of the first French president born after Algeria’s independence led to the recall of the Algerian ambassador to Paris. Although this has meanwhile returned to France after a clarification, the French air force is still not allowed to fly over Algerian airspace. As a result, French military operations in West Africa face logistical challenges.
There is also a dispute between Algiers and Paris over the 50 percent reduction in French visas for Algerians that was decided last year. Paris announced the measure unilaterally because the Algerian authorities had refused to allow rejected asylum seekers back into the country.
“Rarely has the regime had such a comfortable negotiating position vis-à-vis France”
The French delegation, which came with seven ministers, now wants to strengthen economic cooperation above all. The focus is likely to be on increasing gas imports to France and other European countries. After the start of the war against Ukraine, Brussels, Berlin and Paris are hoping for a closer energy partnership with Algeria and its neighboring countries Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. But even France, which is closely related linguistically, geographically and economically, is being squeezed out by its competitors China, Turkey and Russia. After China, France is only Algeria’s second largest trading partner and supplies only 10.6 percent of imports. Turkey is catching up and has just landed several construction projects worth millions.
The country, which is run in an authoritarian manner by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and an ominous security apparatus, has repeatedly had critical activists and journalists arrested in recent months. Journalists such as Sofiane Merakchi were sentenced to several months in prison following non-violent street protests. An SZ journalist said on the phone that more and more colleagues would emigrate to France after the arrests. But more and more politically inactive Algerians want to leave their country. Despite Africa’s largest gas reserves, many families face financial ruin. The business elite is resisting the reforms demanded by the citizens just as vehemently as the political leadership.
Should Macron’s charm offensive fail, there is a risk of a setback similar to that in Mali, where anti-French resentment and the colonialist attitude of the French army ultimately led to the withdrawal. Although French military intervention saved Algeria’s neighbor from being taken over by radical groups in 2013, Russian mercenaries are now securing the military government there. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had visited Algiers on his first trip abroad and promised arms deliveries. In return, President Tebboune traveled to Moscow for the security conference in mid-August.
Emmanuel Macron wants to win over Algiers with personal commitment. On the first day of the visit, he announced the opening of the historical archives and the creation of a Franco-Algerian commission of historians. “We will not take the easy route,” Macron promised before his meeting with Tebboune. “Rarely has the regime had such a comfortable negotiating position vis-à-vis France and Europe,” comments a journalist critical of the government in Algiers, “but Macron shouldn’t forget the rights of ordinary Algerians either, otherwise we’ll all come to Paris.”