Today, Wednesday January 25, the work of the 9th session of the Algerian-French political consultations began in Algiers, in the presence of the Secretaries General of the Algerian and French Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, this work has brought out a concordance of views on the ways and means of raising the level of cooperation between the two countries.
This 9th session of Algerian-French political consultations took place under the co-chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Amar Belani, and his counterpart from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs , Anne Marie Descotes.
Concordance on the means of raising the level of Algerian-French cooperation
“These political consultations, which were based for the first time on exploratory meetings between senior officials from the various ministerial departments of the two parties, revealed a concordance of views on the ways and means of raising the level of cooperation, consolidate the bilateral legal framework and design new bilateral cooperation mechanisms in the various fields of activity,” the statement read.
This same press release adds that: “This session, which was held in a warm atmosphere imbued with confidence and frankness, is part of the revitalization of the various bilateral cooperation mechanisms, in accordance with the Algiers Declaration for a renewed partnership as well as the conclusions of the sixth session of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee, held in Algiers in October 2022”.
The work of this session is part of a particular context marked by the preparation of the next visit to France, which will be made next May by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a visit which will be preceded by the holding, in the coming weeks, of the Joint Algerian-French Economic Committee (COMEFA).
In addition, they addressed “all the dimensions of the bilateral relationship, in particular the human dimension, with particular emphasis on issues relating to memory and the movement of people, which constitute true markers of this relationship”. .
What about the memory issue?
In addition, in accordance with the course set by the Heads of State of the two countries, the two parties agreed to deal with the memorial issue within the framework of an objective and truthful reading.
The French party undertook in this respect to “accelerate the process of restoring the archives and dealing with the question of the nuclear test sites which should be rehabilitated, thus contributing to apprehending the future in a climate of appeasement and mutual respect”.
The two parties also addressed “current regional and international issues of common interest in their immediate neighborhood (Western Sahara, Sahel, Libya, Russian-Ukrainian conflict”.
