A senior French official held talks in Algeria this week to revive political and security dialogue between the two countries, the first concrete step toward ending 15 months of tensions triggered by Paris’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in late July 2024.

 

Anne-Marie Descôtes, Secretary-General of the French Foreign Ministry, visited Algiers on Thursday. Her trip, which comes amid signs of a thaw, was also referenced the same day during the French Foreign Ministry’s daily press briefing by its spokesperson, Christophe Lemoine.

 

Restarting bilateral cooperation

 

Responding to questions about the easing tensions, according to the ministry’s published transcript, Lemoine addressed the release of Algerian French writer Boualem Sansal.

 

Sansal received a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds on December 12, granted by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the request of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

 

Lemoine said the Foreign Ministry was “deeply moved” by the return of two previously detained French citizens, Camilo Castro and Sansal.

 

Camilo Castro, a French yoga instructor, was abducted and held in Venezuela for more than four months before being released recently. His family and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, said he had been detained by Venezuelan authorities in “extremely harsh” conditions, and Caracas never disclosed the reason for his arrest.

 

Lemoine said French diplomacy “spared no effort” to secure the release of both men, adding that the foreign minister had thanked all those in France and within its diplomatic network who contributed to the “happy outcome.”

 

Asked about Descôtes’ visit to Algeria, Lemoine said there was a “desire to deliver concrete results that benefit French women and men.”

 

He added that Descôtes was in Algeria for “a working visit to relaunch bilateral cooperation in the fields of migration, security and the economy, all within a dialogue that requires much effort and must produce results for our citizens.”

 

A symbolic handshake

 

Asked whether Presidents Tebboune and Emmanuel Macron might meet on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit, which opened Thursday in South Africa, Lemoine referred the question to the Élysée and to Algerian authorities.

 

“As for what may or may not happen at the G20, I refer you to the Élysée, which manages the agenda. I cannot comment on the Algerian president’s schedule, please refer to Algerian authorities,” he said.

 

According to Algerian political sources, both sides had worked to arrange a brief “handshake” between the two leaders during the summit, which Tebboune had been invited to attend, as a “strong symbolic signal” of reconciliation.

 

However, Tebboune did not travel to South Africa and instead sent Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb to represent him. Tebboune had announced a month earlier that he would attend the summit. The reason for his absence remains unclear.

 

The Algerian news site Tout sur l’Algérie reported that Descôtes’ visit was intended to pave the way for the resumption of dialogue between the two countries ahead of an expected late-month or early-next-month visit by the French Interior Minister.

 

Citing its sources, the outlet said Algeria “does not want its relationship with France reduced to migration and security,” signaling that Algiers wants a broader approach encompassing politics, the economy, culture, education and regional cooperation.

 

According to the outlet, “strengthening bilateral partnerships” will be one of the key objectives of French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s trip.

 

In recent weeks he has said he wants a more flexible approach toward Algeria, in contrast to his predecessor, Bruno Retailleau, who was at the center of the months-long tensions and had taken a hard line on deporting Algerians ordered to leave French territory, whom Algeria refused to accept.

 

Algerian authorities did not announce Descôtes’ visit, during which she met her Algerian counterpart for a few hours. Analysts said Algiers did not want to give the talks an official character, preferring to reserve that for Nuñez’s visit.