The painful history between France and Algeria is still very present. Every new French president who tries to promote the relationship with Algeria fails, due to the weight of the history between the two countries. The late President Francois Mitterand failed to improve the relationship, especially when he considered the halting of the electoral path in Algeria a mistake, when the military authorities prevented the Islamists from reaching power. Then came the turn of former President Jacques Chirac; he tried to produce a treaty of friendship with his friend, President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika. The attempt failed and Chirac's term ended after 12 years of being unable to get the good relationship he wanted with Algeria and overcome the history of the two countries. Then came President Nicholas Sarkozy, who described himself as the “estrangement president.” He visited Algeria before visiting Morocco, and this was a development in French policy, which usually assigned Morocco a privileged status in its foreign policy. When Sarkozy visited Algeria, he said that he was not trying to get a treaty of friendship, but a privileged and excellent relationship with President Bouteflika. However, the honeymoon between the two countries ended quickly. There were mistakes by France, such as detaining the head of Algerian protocol in Marseilles on false charges. There were also mistakes by Algeria, whose president ignored all of the messages of his French counterpart, and relations remained poor. It was clear that both sides were responsible for the coolness and tension. The Algerian president and the Algerian authorities refuse to deal with the French authorities. Certainly, France's history in Algeria continues to play a role in the Algerian suspicions about France. Certainly also, the slow taking of decisions in Algeria and the weight of bureaucracy are impeding economic openness, which is desired by President Bouteflika. In recent years, Algeria has seen oil and gas revenues that led to hard currency reserves of more than $100 billion. However, the country still suffers from desperate conditions, in terms of unemployment, housing, and the social conditions of young people. Progress has been slow, despite the huge revenues. Many blame the tardy progress on corruption and red tape, and the remnants of the Soviet economy that have weighed the country down. President Bouteflika, meanwhile, has amended the Constitution in order to stay in power, as happens in most states of the region. When he was re-elected, France officially welcomed the election, because it wanted good ties with an important state. However, Bouteflika's relationship with Sarkozy has come to resemble the former's relationship with Chirac. Will the relationship between France and Algeria one day become one of friendship and true reconciliation, far removed from suspicion? Many in France doubt Algerian intentions, and vice versa. However, the problem does not lie only in history; it is also about the mistakes committed by both sides. In fact, regimes in North Africa are not liberal or democratic. But the French relationship with Tunisia is good, as it is with Qaddafi's Libya and Morocco as well. The Moroccan monarch was recently a guest of the French president and his wife Carla Bruni in Paris. France's relations are good with all of these states, with the exception of Algeria.
