Barrot will meet with his host counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, to outline the cooperation the leaders agreed to resume after eight months of diplomatic confrontations, which included mutual accusations and threats by Paris to question the 1968 migration pacts.

The crisis escalated last year with France’s decision to support Morocco’s position on Western Sahara, whose independence Algeria supports.

The differences grew with the arrest in Algiers of writer Boualem Sansal, sentenced to five years in prison for endangering state security, and the refusal to accept the deportation of Algerian influencers accused by France of promoting violence on French soil.

The North African country accused Paris of giving in to pressure from right-wing figures, including Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who advocated a tough line in the bilateral relationship. France even adopted sanctions against some authorities, restricting their movement and access to French territory, measures that drew condemnation from Algiers. At the end of March, Macron and Tebboune spoke by telephone and issued a joint statement pledging to maintain a dialogue as equals and to renew the rapprochement that began in August 2022, when the French president visited Algeria. The leaders then outlined a roadmap to rekindle ties tainted by the past, particularly French colonization and the bloody War of Independence.

The easing of tensions puts Tebboune’s visit to Paris back on the table, which had been delayed due to confrontations, although no date has yet been announced.

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