French president, Emmanuel Macron, says he hopes tensions with Algeria will ease following a row involving visas and comments made by Paris about illegal immigrants.
Last weekend Algiers recalled its ambassador in Paris and banned French military airplanes from its airspace following the announcement of a sharp cut in the number of French visas given to citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
According to this expert, historical tensions lie at the root of the problem.
“Today, relations are very damaged. We have already experienced similar situations in the tormented history of the two countries, which don’t manage to talk to each other calmly. It is always passionate and impassioned and this is yet another episode, yet another storm warning on diplomatic relations between France and Algeria”, explains Kader Abderrahim, lecturer at Sciences-Po and author of “Geopolitics of Algeria”.
During his presidency, Macron has taken steps to reduce tensions with Algeria linked to colonial times.
According to Kader Abderrahim, the solution may reside with the younger generation.
“To accept reconciliation is to accept to open wide the doors and windows to reality, to the light, to the historical truth. And that is obviously impossible and unthinkable at this stage. However, the majority of the Algerian population, which did not live through the war, the tragedy of the Algerian war, has a different perspective: it is trying to build another relationship with France”, claims the author.
Two weeks ago, Macron issued an apology on behalf of France for abandoning Algerians who fought for France during the colonial war that culminated in Algeria’s independence in 1962.
