French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced Sunday that Paris and Algeria have decided to return to "normal consular relations", with which the decision to reduce the number of visas granted to Algerians by half ends.
"I informed the Algerian president that since last Monday, the two countries decided to restore normal consular relations. Relations have returned to what they were before the Covid pandemic," Darmanan said in a statement after he was received by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
He added that this includes "everything related to visas and exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, in order to elevate this exchange to the level of strong and special friendship relations between Algeria and France."
The visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Algeria in August warmed relations between the two countries after months of tension, due to several files, including the visa file.
Darmanan, who met his counterpart Ibrahim Murad, confirmed that he came to Algeria at the request of President Macron, "which is an opportunity for the French side to highlight its great will to continue the cooperation that took place between the two presidents."
Sources within the French Interior Minister reported on Friday that Gerald Darmanan will visit with his wife the "Algerian desert where his maternal grandfather was born", noting that the middle name of the French minister is Moussa, the name of his maternal grandfather.
Mousa Waked was born in the Ghalia children´s circle. He was an Algerian shooter and a fighter in the French forces in 1944.
France restores consular relations with Algeria to normal and resumes issuing visas
