French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Algeria on Thursday for a three-day visit.
Macron, accompanied by a 90-strong delegation, was greeted with military honors by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. It is Macron’s second visit to the former French colony since he first took office in 2017.
Macron wants to improve relations between the two states, which have suffered over the past year. Macron’s critical remarks about the Algerian government had caused trouble. Among other things, he questioned whether the Algerian nation existed at all without the colonial occupation. Algeria recalled its ambassador. However, the dispute was later settled. Macron is the first French president born after Algeria gained independence.
Algeria is the only former French colony in Africa to break free of French domination by force of arms. After almost eight years of war, the North African country gained its independence in 1962. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the Algerian war, around 400,000 Algerians and 100,000 French.
The program includes a visit to a monument to the martyrs of Algeria’s struggle for independence. Macron is determined to work in Algiers for the “future, innovation and youth,” said the Elysée Palace. In Algeria, Macron will meet with entrepreneurs in the capital, Algiers, and with young people in the second largest city, Oran.
