ALGIERS, Algeria
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he has agreed with his Algerian counterpart to work to combat illegal immigration while ensuring more flexible ways for the North African country\u2019s nationals to come to France legally.
\nMacron\u2019s comments Friday came during a three-day visit to Algeria meant to reset relations between the two countries, after a major diplomatic crisis last year broke out over the visa issue.
\nTensions were heightened by a French decision to slash the number of visas issued to people in North Africa, including Algeria, because governments there were refusing to take back migrants expelled from France.
\nBoth countries resumed cooperation in December.
\nSpeaking to reporters in Algiers, Macron acknowledged the \u201csensitive\u201d issue was discussed until late the previous night with President Abdelmajid Tebboune, during a meeting and a dinner at the presidential palace.
\n\u201cWe share the same will\u201d to implement policies combating illegal immigration and trafficking, Macron said. That includes being \u201cmore efficient\u201d in sending back to Algeria people illegally staying in France, he said.
\nFrance wants to have \u201ca much more flexible approach\u201d on providing visas to families of French-Algerian dual nationals, artists, sportspeople and entrepreneurs, he added.
\nAsked about whether he discussed human rights issues with Tebboune, Macron said that \u201cwe discussed very freely about everything,\u201d but did not provide details.
\nHuman rights activists criticize Algeria\u2019s system of governance that views dissidents as criminals and doesn\u2019t allow freedom of speech.
\nMacron said France wants to strengthen its economic partnership with Algeria. The country is a key partner in providing gas to the European continent, a status that has been reinforced amid the war in Ukraine.
\nFrance relies on Algeria for about 8% of its gas imports. No new contract was expected to be signed during the visit.
\nOn Friday morning, Macron visited the Christian and Jewish cemetery of Saint-Eugene in Algiers, where he paid tribute to the French who died during Algeria\u2019s war of independence.
\nMacron, the first French president born after the end of the war in 1962, has promised a reckoning of colonial-era wrongs. The country was occupied by France for 132 years.
\nOn Thursday, Macron and Tebboune agreed to form a joint commission of historians who will examine the past from the beginning of the French colonization in 1830 to Algeria\u2019s independence.
\nMacron was to have another meeting with Tebboune Friday to discuss peace and stability in the region. He was also scheduled to go to Algiers\u2019 Great Mosque later in the day day, before heading to Oran, the country\u2019s second largest city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ALGIERS, Algeria French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he has agreed with his Algerian counterpart to work to combat illegal immigration while ensuring more flexible ways for the North African country\u2019s nationals to come to France legally. Macron\u2019s comments Friday came during a three-day visit to Algeria meant to reset relations between the two countries, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1303],"class_list":{"0":"post-279754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-emmanuel-macron"},"yoast_head":"\n