President Tebboune receives wishes from French counterpart on Eid al-Fitr

The president of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, received Monday a phone call from his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who extended his wishes of success and prosperity to him and to the Algerian people on Eid al-Fitr, and during which they agreed on the immediate resumption of security cooperation between the two countries and the work of the joint commission of historians, the presidency of the Republic said in a statement.

"The president of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, received on the evening (of Monday), a phone call from his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, during which President Macron extended to President Tebboune and to the Algerian people his wishes of success and prosperity on Eid al-Fitr," the statement said.

"The two leaders had a long, frank and friendly exchange on the state of bilateral relations and the tensions that have built up over the last few months."

"The two presidents reiterated their desire to resume the fruitful dialogue they had established with the Declaration of Algiers in August 2022, which led to significant steps in terms of memory, mainly the creation of the joint commission of French and Algerian historians, the restitution of human remains of the martyrs of the Resistance and the admission of responsibility for the death of Ali Boumendjel and Larbi Ben M’hidi."

"The two leaders agreed that the strength of relations, especially human ties, between Algeria and France, the strategic interests and the security of both countries, the challenges and crises facing Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa require the resumption of this dialogue between two equal partners who are major players in Europe and Africa, committed to international legality as well as to the goals and principles of the UN charter."

"They also agreed to work closely together to give to their bilateral relations a new ambition, in this spirit of friendship, addressing all aspects of their ties for efficiency and results."

"The two leaders agreed to immediately resume security cooperation."

They also agreed on the importance of an immediate "confident, fluid and effective cooperation on migration," making it possible to deal with all aspects of mobility between the two countries, with a "results-based approach that addresses the concerns of both countries."

"Commending the work done so far by the joint commission of historians, created at their initiative, the two presidents stressed their determination to continue and complete this work of memory, in a spirit of appeasement, reconciliation and relationship-rebuilding, to which the two leaders are committed."

"The joint commission of historians will immediately resume its work as it will meet shortly in France, the conclusions of its work and concrete proposals will be submitted to the two heads of State before the summer of 2025," the statement said.

During the phone call, "the importance of judicial cooperation between the two countries was underlined and the two presidents agreed to resume exchanges and cooperation in the field."

"The two leaders agreed to a visit to Algiers by the Keeper of the French Seals, Minister of Justice, Gerald Darmanin."

They "stressed the need to develop economic cooperation between the two countries in promising fields."

The two presidents committed to work for the strengthening of exchanges and investments while respecting the interests of both countries.

"President Macron expressed, to President Tebboune, the support of France for the revision of the EU-Algeria Association Agreement."

The French president "reiterated his belief in President Tebboune's farsightedness and called for a gesture of clemency and humanity towards Boualem Sansal, due to the writer's age and state of health," the statement said.

To have more ambitious relations between France and Algeria, in line with the desire of the two leaders, the French minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, will make a trip to Algiers on April 6, at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf.

"The visit will be an opportunity to detail this ambitious work programme, set out the operational details and timetable for implementation.

This will ensure that the shared desire for an ambitious, calm relationship that respects the interests of all parties will lead to concrete results.

The two leaders agreed on the principle of holding a meeting, according to the statement of the presidency of the Republic.