Algeria, France: telephone exchange between Tebboune and Macron

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reportedly exchanged a phone call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Saturday. The two leaders agreed to boost cooperation between their two countries during a telephone conversation.

During this telephone interview, the Algerian and French Presidents, Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Emmanuel Macron, reviewed the prospects for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries (Algeria and France). The Algerian Head of State and his French counterpart agreed, during this call, to continue coordination between them in order to accelerate the pace of cooperation between Algeria and France in many areas, but also to bring closer together the points of view on certain issues.

The meeting comes 48 hours after a keynote speech by the Algerian head of state, who called for early elections and pardoned Hirak detainees. In the aftermath, journalist Khaled Drareni was also released. A gesture of appeasement addressed to the popular protest movement that will celebrate, on Monday, its second anniversary, and which had forced the former strongman Abdelaziz Bouteflika to leave power.

It should be noted that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has decided to dissolve the National People’s Assembly (NPA) with the organization of early parliamentary elections in the coming months. He also decided to decree a presidential pardon for the benefit of some 60 prisoners. During his speech, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said he would proceed with a cabinet reshuffle that would affect several ministers whose performance has not been satisfactory.

It should be recalled that the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, returned to Algeria on 12 February, after several weeks of convalescence following his hospitalisation in a German specialist hospital last December after he was infected with Coronavirus.