France announced yesterday, Thursday, the postponement of a visit that its prime minister had been scheduled to pay to Algeria, while the French army chief arrived earlier there, as he discussed with the military issues some of them related to the colonial era.

For an indefinite period, the French government announced the postponement of the visit that Prime Minister Jean Castex was scheduled to perform to Algeria next Sunday, and this visit was to be devoted to restoring warmth to the complex relations between the two countries.

The French Prime Minister's Office said, "The Covid-19 pandemic does not allow these delegations to be in completely satisfactory conditions."

He added that the French-Algerian governmental committee is the body within which the bilateral meetings were supposed to take place, and "consequently, it has been postponed to a later date when the health context is more appropriate."

Substandard

However, identical French and Algerian sources attributed the postponement of the visit to diplomatic reasons, noting that the size of the French delegation - which was reduced due to the pandemic - was considered insufficient by Algeria, which informed Paris of this, which hastened the late decision to postpone the visit.

A French source familiar with the issue said that "the composition of the delegation is below the standard" in Algeria's view.

In turn, an Algerian source said that Paris "reduced the duration of the visit to one day and the size of the delegation to 4 ministers. It is a miniature formation, while there are many bilateral issues that must be studied."

Military encounters

In a related context, the French Chief of Staff Francois Le Quanter held meetings with senior military personnel in Algeria, who arrived there earlier.

While receiving his French counterpart, the Algerian army chief of staff, Lieutenant General "Said Chengriha," said that security and stability in neighboring countries are linked to the security and stability of his country.

He stressed that Algeria is making every effort to adapt the military formations across its borders;

To confront the threat of terrorism in the region.

According to his description.

 Chengriha spoke of the need to rehabilitate two sites in the Algerian Sahara, in which French forces conducted several nuclear tests during their occupation of Algeria.