This will be the case next June. Postponed at the request of the Algerians, the state visit that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune would make to France from May 2nd to 3rd was finally scheduled for the second half of June. On April 23, the Algerian Head of State and his French counterpart spoke by telephone to – according to a press release from the Algerian presidency – reach an agreement on this new date and discuss the prospects for their bilateral relations, as well as the means for improve .to strengthen.
Preparations for Abdelmadjid Tebboune's visit took place at the beginning of March, with the stay in Paris of one of the victims of the “forerunners” of the Algerian presidency, who came to discuss issues relating to logistics and protocol with foreigners.
Be parasitized by CONTESTATION anti Macron
From the first contacts, the El-Mouradia Palace expressed the desire for the state visit to be postponed for fifteen days. The Elisha then argued that Emmanuel Macron's agenda for the month of May was already full. Therefore, a new stay in Paris has been scheduled for the Algerian precursors, after the Eid festival, so that they can finalize their preparations. But we faced new developments that made it even more hypothetical to maintain the dates initially planned for Abdelmadjid Tebboune's stay in Paris.
On Monday, April 17, Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, in fact informed Catherine Colonna, head of French diplomacy, that the presidency intended to postpone the arrival of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, claiming that the two parties had no results.” to be announced for this visit – the first by an Algerian head of state since that made in June 2000 by President Bouteflika. In other words: the two parties did not continue with the partnership and cooperation dossiers initiated before and after Emmanuel Macron's visit to Algeria in August 2022.
Behind the postponement sought by El-Mouradia, there are political considerations that the Algerian authorities do not want to admit or officially comment on. The political climate and social protest in France, with demonstrations against pension reform, did not favor a calm conduct and suffered from this visit at the beginning of May.
The deleterious climate in the French capital may have hindered or greatly hindered the stay of Tebboune, whose program includes, in particular, The ceremony at Invalides, interviews at the Élysée, visit to the Great Mosque and official dinner.
May 3: Press Freedom Day
To these apprehensions are added the receipt of demonstrations and actions by the diaspora and NGOs against the Algerian executive to protest against the arrest of journalists and attacks on press freedom. Thus, on March 30, in front of the Algerian Embassy in Paris, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organized an operation to deliver 13,000 envelopes symbolizing the signatures collected in the petition for the release of journalist Ihsane El-Kadi, sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were suspended. Since his arrest in December 2022, several renowned international organizations and media have campaigned with the Algerian authorities for his release.
In this case, the fact that World Press Freedom Day, May 3, coincides with the second day of Tebboune's state visit should not reassure El-Mouradia about the serenity of the president's stay in Paris. Hence the insistence that the visit be held in June. On condition that, until then, no incident or miscarriage will jeopardize the laborious registration work.
What is certain, however, is that these repeated reconciliations depend almost exclusively on the special relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who appreciate each other to the point of familiarity. Every time the two sides get confused, every diplomatic crisis, appeasement always involves a phone call between the parties. two men.
