The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, is expected to visit Algeria at the end of November or early December with the aim of revitalizing bilateral cooperation in the security and migration sectors, Le Jeune Indépendant has learned from a responsible French source in Paris.
“This visit is being prepared, and contacts have already been established between Algerian and French officials to concretize this important visit,” said the same source, adding that invitations have been sent to French officials to pave the way for this visit.
“These contacts were made at the request of the French side following Mr. Nuñez’s appointment as Minister of the Interior in the government of Sébastien Lecornu,” the source added.
According to this government official, official invitations have been sent by Algerian authorities to French officials to travel to Algiers and agree on issues to be discussed between Nuñez and his Algerian counterpart Said Sayoud.
This visit is part of Mr. Nuñez’s approach “to promote calm and constructive dialogue between Paris and Algiers,” breaking away from the tensions that marked the path taken by his predecessor Bruno Retailleau, the source explained.
In an interview published on Saturday, November 1st, in the newspaper Le Parisien, Nuñez criticised the populist methods of his predecessor which led to a deadlock in relations between the two capitals.
“Those who make the French believe that a show of force and brutal methods are the only solution, the only way out, are wrong. It doesn’t work, in any area,” he stated, lamenting that “the channel is completely cut off today” between the ministries of the two countries.
“Whether with the DGPN (General Directorate of the National Police), the DGGN (General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie), or with intelligence services, there are no longer operational information exchanges. Moreover, the consequence is that Algeria has not accepted its irregular nationals since last spring. We no longer have travel documents either,” emphasised the new occupant of the Place Beauvau (the Ministry of the Interior).
However, Nuñez says he sees “signs” of an improvement in Franco-Algerian relations. “The Algerian Minister of the Interior recently wrote to me to invite me,” he announced.
Other signs of this warming include the French authorities’ decision to grant accreditations to the twelve Algerian consuls appointed by Algeria who are present in France. “In the coming days, three urgent accreditations will be issued for three consuls general, and in return, the Algerian authorities should reciprocate,” the French government official told Le Jeune Indépendant.
The regularisation of these diplomats is intended to lead to the handling of cases of Algerians in irregular situations who have received deportation orders from French territory (OQTF), the source continued. The French minister indicated that 500 forced removals of Algerians took place by the end of October 2025, compared with 1,400 during the same period last year. According to Nuñez, the freeze in relations between the two countries resulted in a complete halt to migration cooperation, explaining that Algeria has no longer accepted its nationals in irregular situations since last spring.
Algeria had insisted on case-by-case treatment of all Algerian nationals targeted by OQTF orders. The resumption of consular cooperation is expected to ease tensions on this issue, said the same government source.
Nuñez deplored the adoption in the National Assembly of a resolution by the National Rally (RN) party aiming to “denounce” the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968, expressing regret over “the conditions in which that vote took place.”
Paris hopes that “the resumption of work between Nuñez and Sayoud” will also extend to security issues, particularly in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, given that the two countries are bound by the imperative of exchanging information on the terrorist threat.
It is worth noting that Algeria has engaged in managing security and migration dossiers with Spain. The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, visited Algeria on October 19.
Furthermore, sources close to the Élysée do not rule out a possible meeting between President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and his counterpart Emmanuel Macron during the G20 summit to be held on November 22 and 23 in Johannesburg, South Africa.