For the benefit of French women and men, Macron hopes to resume relations with Algeria.

Written by: Ayman Ragab

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his hope on Sunday for a resumption of relations with Algeria.

This came during a press conference in Kenya, where he expressed his hope that the recent visit of the French Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces, Alice Rufau, to Algeria would mark the beginning of a resumption of relations between the two countries.

Defending the interests of French women and men

“I consider it my duty to defend the interests of French men and women,” said Macron, who concluded his visit to Egypt today, “which are to establish peaceful and constructive relations with Algeria.”.

He continued, “This relationship must be based on mutual respect, but it must allow us to find solutions to all issues,” while criticizing “internal political positions” that have caused “a lot of damage” to both countries.

Alice Rufou, the Minister Delegate in charge of Veterans to the Minister of the Armed Forces, confirmed after being received by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune that she had received a lengthy reception from the President of the Republic, and she thanked the President, noting that she had a lengthy, in-depth and important meeting with him within the framework of the mission assigned to her by the French President to come to Algeria.

The tragic events of May 8, 1945

She revealed that this meeting came after the visit she made, at the request of President Macron, to Setif to commemorate a very painful chapter in our history, namely the tragic events that took place on May 8, 1945. She expressed her deep emotion after the warm reception she received in Setif, as she described it, with the participation of the ambassador and her accompanying delegation. She affirmed, “We experienced that with great emotion, and we are of course aware of the magnitude of the tragedy that those events represented for the Algerian people.”.

She said: “As you know, President Macron looks at our history with clarity, courage and honesty, including its painful aspects. We continued to discuss the memory file with President Tebboune, and we talked about the joint committee of historians that was created. President Tebboune gave his approval to resume the work of this committee as soon as possible.”.

Algerian-French relations

Regarding Algerian-French relations, she affirmed, “With respect to the relationship between our two countries on a state-to-state basis, President Macron has tasked me with conveying his determination to find ways and means to revive the bilateral relationship between our two countries, a relationship built on respect and aimed at de-escalation and confidence-building. We discussed this in the context of the current international tensions we are witnessing, whether in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Sahel region, in addition to the global energy crisis and all the challenges facing the Mediterranean region. This makes it essential and prerequisite to relaunch a structured and fruitful dialogue between our two countries.”.