Emmanuel Macron visited a Christian sanctuary at Fort de Santa Cruz on the heights of Oran (west), on the last day of his visit to Algeria. The President of the Republic then joined the mini-boutique of the Disco Maghreb label, emblematic of raï, a very popular musical trend in the 1980s, brought up to date by the latest track by DJ Snake. And to return to officially seal the relaunch of the bilateral relationship in Algiers.
After months of diplomatic crisis, linked to this memorial dispute between their two countries, the French and Algerian presidents Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced from the first day of Emmanuel Macron’s visit on Thursday, a new dynamic in the bilateral relationship. They will therefore have sealed it with the solemn signing of a joint declaration for a “renewed, concrete and ambitious partnership”, a step added at the last minute to President Macron’s program.
8,000 more Algerian students this year in France
With Algeria, it’s “a story that has never been simple. But a story of respect, friendship and, dare I say it, love”, Emmanuel Macron launched on Friday, describing a partnership developed “in the enthusiasm of the moment”, during multiple interviews with Tebboune and his ministers. It will be “a new partnership for and by youth”, anticipated the French president, already announcing the acceptance of 8,000 more Algerian students this year in France, who will join an annual contingent of 30,000 youth.
In addition to the memory file around French colonization, the issue of visas poisoned the bilateral relationship when Paris decided in the fall of 2021 to halve the number granted in Algeria, deemed not quick enough to readmit its nationals expelled from France. It will be a question of fighting against illegal immigration while easing the procedures for “families of dual nationals, artists, sportsmen, entrepreneurs and politicians who nourish the bilateral relationship”.
A mixed commission of French and Algerian historians will also be created to “look” the entire period of colonization in the face, “without taboos”.
The visit of the French president was not unanimous
In Algiers, the French president’s visit was not unanimous, with many Algerians waiting for a formal apology from Emmanuel Macron for colonization and for his remarks in the fall of 2021, doubting the existence of an Algerian nation before the landing of the French army in June 1830.
“History cannot be written with lies (…) one of the biggest lies is to say that Algeria was created by France? We expected this gross untruth to be erased by Macron during this visit, ”said The Evening of Algeria released on Saturday.