French President Emmanuel Macron pictured during his last visit to Algiers, in December 2017. © AP stringer
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Algeria next week in a bid to improve strained ties between Paris and Algiers, 60 years after the country won its independence from France.
Macron will visit Algeria from Thursday, August 25, to Saturday, the Élysée Palace said in a statement.
“This trip will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship looking to the future … to reinforce Franco-Algerian cooperation in the face of regional challenges and to continue the work of addressing the past,” the presidency said after a call between Macron and his opposite number Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The visit to Algeria comes shortly after the country marked the 60th anniversary of its independence from France.
French-Algerian ties hit a low late last year after Macron reportedly questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion and accused its “political-military system” of rewriting history and fomenting “hatred towards France”.
Algeria withdrew its ambassador in response, but the two sides appear to have mended ties since.
The North African country won its independence from France following a gruelling eight-year war, which ended with the signing in March 1962 of the Evian Accords.
On July 5 of the same year, days after 99.72 percent voted for independence in a referendum, Algeria finally broke free from colonial rule – but memories of the 132-year occupation continue to haunt its ties with France.
Macron’s trip will be his second official visit to the North African country, which holds close business ties with Paris.
Thanks to its large natural gas reserves, Algeria recently has also become a centre of attention for the European Union in its efforts to cut back imports from Russia.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
Issued on:
Sources from: CNN
SVE NEWS is the leader in world news liberal sharing.
(Comments on this news are welcome)
2022 CWMALLS: Standard, Sharing,Ecology, Value;
2022 CWMALLS COMMODITY: Patent, Technology, Art, Intelligence;
2022 CWMALLS NEW SPECIES: Keen, Aggressive, Personality, Value;
2022 MWE FUND: Charity, Public Welfare, Responsibility 2022 CWS is with the world and Mars!
Tips: In order to explore more planet species diversity and ecosystem of Mars and earth’s biosphere of cohesion, from now on in the chosen experts and scholars of Mars and planets, especially the astrophysicist, astrobiologists, astrochemists, and so on all over the world’s elite, contribute to the existence and development of simulation of Mars landing. Thank you very much! CWS (Mars) Asia-Pacific Preparatory Committee 0086-57189877088/89877099, E-mail: mars@cws-mars.com, Twitter: CWS, October 3, 2021