France-Algeria: towards a greater understanding in Libya
Accompanied by 15 ministers and even more members of the French business community, Macron's Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne travelled to Algeria on Sunday 9. The fifth summit of the High Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN), a meeting body between the governments of Paris and Algiers set up in 2013 to promote cooperation between the states on the two shores, was held there. The aim of this fifth meeting was to flesh out the six points of the Algiers Declaration, signed on 27 August during Macron's state visit to the former French colony.
At a press conference held on the sidelines of these meetings, the Algerian Prime Minister, Aimene Benabderrahmane, said that France and Algeria share a common vision on a large number of regional issues, including the situation in Libya. In this respect, Benabderrahmane maintained to the media that the Franco-Algerian summit allows a common roadmap to be drawn up with a view to the 2030 objectives. Along with the fight against terrorism and French concerns in the Sahel region, the Libyan dossier was the main security issue discussed by the leaders.
In principle, both Algeria and France would agree that elections in Libya, as secure and reliable as possible, are necessary for the North African country. Both governments would maintain a consensus on the resolutions of the Berlin Conferences (2021) on the inviolability of Libya's territorial integrity. Because of their long shared borders, Algeria is one of the countries most concerned about stability in Libya. For Algiers, the political disaster in its neighbouring country translates into displaced persons, refugees and a serious threat to its internal security. In 2021, the Tebboune government tried unsuccessfully to position itself as a mediator between the National Unity Government and Libyan National Army Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Regrettably, Libya continues to spiral into violence in its major cities and its governance crisis that pits two parallel authorities against each other.
Benabderrahmane's statements come as a surprise, but they could bring relief to Haftar's camp. France, along with the United Arab Emirates, has positioned itself from the beginning of the Libyan crisis as the main international supporter of the field marshal. The positions of other international actors close to the pan-Arab Islamist organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and Qatar, were in opposition. The Algerian Prime Minister's message could henceforth mean greater support for French positions in Libya, which advocate abandoning the armed route, while Turkey maintains a military encirclement around Tripoli.
Development poles
This fifth high-level meeting between the governments led to the signing of up to 12 agreements and memoranda of understanding between France and Algeria. The texts signed articulate in detail the co-operation signed in the Algiers Declaration of August. The fields covered by the agreements range from primary and higher education to agriculture, from business meetings to the restructuring of a common memory of understanding between France and Algeria.
A bump in the road between Paris and Algiers remains the issue of the regulated movement of people between the two countries. A crisis erupted between the two governments over the 50% reduction in the issuance of French visas to Algerian citizens, while Paris accused its Maghreb partners of not accepting the return of Algerians expelled from the country by the French justice system.
If gas was also one of the main issues expected for this summit, the Hotel de Matignon, the headquarters of the French government, threw a bucket of cold water on speculation of major progress on this dossier, although a large group of representatives of energy companies met in Algiers together with government authorities.
