France normalizes consular relations with Algeria and resumes issuing visas

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced Sunday that Paris and Algeria had decided to return to “normal consular relations”, with which the decision to cut the number of visas granted to Algerians by half would end.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Algeria in August has revived relations between the two countries after months of tension over several issues, including visas.

The visa refusal rate was 30% for Tunisia and 50% for Algeria and Morocco. And a return to normal has taken place for Tunisians in September, then Morocco and Algeria since Monday, as announced Friday Darmanin and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, during his visit to Rabat.

Darmanin, who met with his Algerian counterpart, Ibrahim Murad, confirmed that he came to Algeria at the request of President Macron, “which is an opportunity for the French side to emphasize its great willingness to continue the cooperation that has been established between the two presidents. 

Sources in the French Interior Ministry reported Friday that Gerald Darmanin will visit with his wife the “Algerian desert where his maternal grandfather was born,” noting that the French minister’s middle name is Moussa, the name of his maternal grandfather.

Moussa Ouakid was born in the circle of Oulad Ghelia. He was an Algerian marksman and a fighter in the French forces in 1944.

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