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The Presidency of the African country indicated this Wednesday, January 5, that the Algerian ambassador in France will resume his functions on Thursday. He was called for consultations in October after diplomatic tensions following statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, which were considered offensive by Algiers.
A sign of appeasement between Paris and Algiers. The Algerian ambassador to France, who was called in October “for consultations” following statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, whom Algiers considered offensive, will resume his duties on Thursday, January 6, the Algerian Presidency announced on Wednesday.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune “received this Wednesday the Algerian ambassador to France, Mohamed Antar Daoud, who will resume his functions in Paris as of this Thursday, January 6, 2022,” the Algerian Presidency said in a statement.
Algiers had withdrawn its ambassador on October 2 in reaction to comments broadcast by French President Emmanuel Macron’s daily ‘Le Monde’, who claimed that Algeria, after its independence in 1962, had been built on “a commemorative rent “, maintained by” the political-military system “.
Macron also questioned the existence of an Algerian nation before the French colonization, which began in 1830.
The détente after Macron’s statements
The Algerian president had demanded France “total respect” to normalize relations, while his French counterpart later regretted that his statements had led to “controversies and misunderstandings”.
Algiers had also prohibited, in protest, the overflight of its territory by French military aircraft serving in the Sahel, where Operation Barkhane troops are deployed.
In addition, the Algerian head of state had warned, at the beginning of November, that he would not take “the first step” to try to calm tensions.
Emmanuel Macron has since expressed his “regret” over the controversy generated and said he was “strongly attached to the development” of the bilateral relationship.
Intention to resume France-Algeria relations
At the beginning of December, the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, paid a visit to Algeria to defuse this bilateral crisis of rare gravity.
The French minister then called for a “peaceful relationship” so that the two countries “can look to the future.” However, during this visit no agreement was reached for, for example, the resumption of the overflight of Algerian airspace.
Relations between Paris and Algiers have often been turbulent. The last such crisis dates back to February 23, 2005, when the French Parliament passed a law recognizing a “positive role for colonization.”
With AFP and Reuters
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