France-Algeria Ministerial Committee meeting cancelled for the second time

A source revealed to Arabi Post that the meeting of the French-Algerian Ministerial Committee, which was scheduled to be held at the end of March, was cancelled.

The same source said that the meeting, which was supposed to be chaired by Algerian Prime Minister, Aymen Benabderrahmane, and his French counterpart, Jean Castex, has been postponed for a week, in order to discuss some contentious files, particularly the immigration and visa files. However, the meeting was permanently cancelled due the divergence of views and the difficulty to reach a middle way, and also the occurrence of an unexpected regional incident.

According to the source of Arabi Post, Algeria is displeased with Paris, since it believes that France has the upper hand in changing the Spanish position on the Sahara issue, where Madrid, which is known for its neutrality in the issue, supported Rabat’s proposal of self-governance.

France 24 channel confirmed that the meeting was scheduled on 24 March.

After the attendance of this Committee in Algeria, it has postponed the meeting for the second time in a year. The Committee has not held a meeting for five years, although it is supposed to be held annually.

According to the sources of Arabi Post, the French Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, in addition to their Algerian counterparts, together with many other ministers from both sides, were supposed to participate in the meeting.

The meeting was supposed to restore relations between the two countries, which have witnessed a major rift since the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, assumed authority at the end of 2019. Tebboune insists that the relations between the two countries be equal and beneficial for both sides.

READ: Algeria, Turkey hold talks to increase energy cooperation

On Saturday, 19 March, France 24 channel confirmed that Algeria’s Ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Antar Daoud, travelled to his country to prepare for the meeting of the French-Algerian Ministerial Committee.

The French government channel attributed the absence of Ambassador Mohamed Antar Daoud from the Elysee celebration of the 60th anniversary of concluding of Evian Agreement which led to the independence of Algeria, to his presence in Algeria.

On the other hand, Algerian media explained that Ambassador Daoud did not attend the celebration, which Macron attended, because Macron invited about 200 Harkis (Algerians who fought with France against their country in the Algerian War of Independence).

It is expected that the Algerian Ambassador will return to Paris before the end of the week to resume his work, after cancelling the meeting of the Ministerial Committee, for which preparations for it lasted two weeks.

Arabi Post was informed that the cancellation of the French-Algerian ministerial meeting missed an opportunity for the two parties to conclude momentous deals and agreements.

According to the same sources, the cancelled high-ranking ministerial meeting was supposed to end up with the signing of critical economic agreements, especially in the energy sector.

The meeting was also supposed to discuss the files of memory and archives, as well as the issue of compensation for those affected by the French nuclear explosions in Algeria.

The agenda of the meeting also included the issue of illegal immigrants and reducing the Algerians’ share of visas to enter France.

The meeting was also meant to include the discussion of regional crises in its agenda, such as Libya, Mali and the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

READ: Morocco, France conduct joint military drill near Algeria border 

Cancelling the meeting of the French-Algerian Ministerial Committee for the second time in a year confirms that the relations between the two countries are still tense and it is difficult to repair them for the time being, especially as Paris is expected to witness a presidential election of which the results are difficult to predict.

It is also clear that Algeria is waiting for the upcoming results in the opposite bank to resume relations between the two countries.

Algeria believes that it has granted Macron many opportunities in order to improve the bilateral relations; however, he has wasted them one by one, for fear of agitating the far-right supporters against him.

There is no doubt that the cancellation of the high-level Ministerial Committee between Algeria and France, a few weeks before the first round of the presidential elections, will be a hard blow to the prospects of French President, Emmanuel Macron, who aspires to win a second presidential term.

Macron relies a lot on the Algerian community of dual nationals to support him in the presidential race, especially since their number is close to five million, according to unofficial statistics.

In recent months, the French President sought to reconcile with Algeria and to ease tension with it for electoral purposes, especially that his extremist right-wing opponents such as Éric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen put anti-immigrant, especially Algerians, at the forefront of their electoral programs.