Algeria, France agree to hold diplomatic talks
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Algerian Ambassador to France Mohammad Antar Daoud discusses with French officials rectifying French-Algerian relations in addition to other issues, such as reciprocal visas.
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The conciliation between France and Algeria took place following a dispute over France's inappropriate statements and actions toward Algeria.
President Emmanuel Macron's chief of staff, Alexis Kohler, received Algerian Ambassador to Paris Mohammad Antar Daoud in the Elysee Palace. He was later received by the Director of North Africa and the Middle East in the French foreign ministry, Anne Gueguen.
The Algerian embassy in France said Daoud and Kohler welcomed the return of contact between France and Algeria, expressing hope that the return of the Algerian ambassador to France would open the door for a new stage in relations between the two countries.
The two parties agreed to hold diplomatic talks between the two countries by the end of January in Algiers, the Algerian embassy added.
The embassy also revealed that the two parties also discussed the visa issue between Paris and Algiers after a diplomatic crisis took place between the two over France reducing the number of visas issued to Algerian citizens among other nationalities.
Algeria resuming diplomatic activity in France stems from Algiers' intent to ensure that talks take place considering they are the only path toward achieving consensus on issues of common interests between the two nations, Daoud said.
He also said his mission was to enhance bilateral ties and give them momentum after the diplomatic spat that took place a few months back.
The Algerian Presidency announced in early January that it had resumed diplomatic relations with France.
Algeria's Ambassador to Paris is to return to his post after he was summoned in October following remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that Algiers deemed offensive, the Presidency said.
Background of the crisis
President Emmanuel Macron of France had made several controversial, shocking, and unprecedented statements toward Algeria and its president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
This, accompanied by the visa quarrel, saw Algiers recalling its ambassador from France for consultations and later banning French aircraft from entering its airspace, which delayed French military aviation.
France must forget that Algeria was once a French colony, said Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune following Macron's statements questioning whether Algeria existed prior to French colonization.
