Algerian interior and transport minister Saïd Sayoud (left) meets French interior minister Laurent Nuñez (right) in Algiers on February 16, 2026. AFP
A sign of improvement? The question resurfaces every time high-level contact resumes between Paris and Algiers, while relations have been mired in a deep crisis for 18 months– the worst since Algeria's independence in 1962.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez visited Algiers on Monday, February 16, and Tuesday, February 17, allowing the two governments to "work on reinstating very high-level security cooperation," he said after meeting with Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune, before flying back to Paris.
Whether this tentative thaw will truly clear the bilateral horizon and break the cycle of repeatedly dashed hopes remains to be seen. In early April 2025, a reconciliation visit to Algiers by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was cut short after only a few days. It faltered following the arrest in France of an Algerian consular agent, allegedly involved in the 2024 abduction of opposition influencer Amir Boukhors (known as "Amir DZ"). The crisis, which had already escalated when Paris aligned itself in July 2024 with Morocco's claim to Western Sahara, was further aggravated by the arrest later that year of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, causing tensions to spiral yet again.
