Algeria and France are moving decisively to rebuild their security partnership, with Algerian Interior Minister Said Saïoud set to travel to Paris in the coming days for high-level talks covering sensitive bilateral security and cooperation files.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed the upcoming visit exclusively, telling dzwatch: “I will be receiving my Algerian counterpart here within the next few days. It is a very positive signal. Security cooperation is being gradually resumed.”
Nunez revealed that key agenda items include intelligence-sharing on drug trafficking networks, stressing that “cooperation on smugglers must be relaunched and is already moving in both directions.”
When pressed on adopting a so-called “arm’s length” approach toward Algeria — a posture previously advocated by his predecessor Bruno Retailleau — Nunez told dzwatch directly: “On security and migration issues, we have no choice but to engage in dialogue with Algeria.”
The visit follows an earlier mission by French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin to Algiers, dedicated to advancing critical judicial and security dossiers between the two nations. That trip marked a turning point after months of diplomatic tension.
The rapid sequencing of high-level French ministerial visits to and from Algiers signals a clear strategic recalibration by Paris, which increasingly recognizes Algeria as an indispensable partner on security, counter-terrorism, and migration.
