Unsurprisingly, Tebboune’s Algeria once again showed its weakness and softness, in front of France by reconsidering its position in its open crisis about the Franco-Algerian activist, Amira Bouraoui, while the reasons for the break between the two capitals were extremely strong.
Friday, after a telephone conversation between the French and Algerian presidents, the two countries announced that they were turning the page on their latest diplomatic crisis.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Emmanuel Macron resolved the “misunderstandings” linked to the quarrel around the Franco-Algerian activist, Amira Bouraoui and “agreed to strengthen the communication channels (…) to prevent this type of regrettable misunderstanding from happening again”, said the French presidency in a press release.
The two presidents agreed in the same wake to “strengthen bilateral cooperation”, added the Elysée. Such a simple press release which does not reflect the extent of the accusations made by Algeria vis-à-vis France.
The reconciliation comes as Algeria had accused France of having “violated its national sovereignty”, one of the most serious grounds for rupture, and which in normal times could not have been settled in a telephone call.
Algeria had officially protested against what it described as the “clandestine and illegal exfiltration” of the Franco-Algerian national, Amira Bouraoui, adding that her “physical presence on national territory is prescribed by Algerian justice”.
Accusing France of having violated its national sovereignty, Algeria also deemed this development “unacceptable” which causes “great damage” to Algerian-French relations.
If the Algerian president was expected to reconsider his position and backtrack on the umpteenth diplomatic crisis created with France, it was not expected that this would happen so easily. Before this decision, Abdelmadjid Tebboune had announced in a last interview centered on Algerian foreign relations, that he was going to reassign the Algerian ambassador to Paris.