France’s interior minister visits Algeria amid hopes of thawing relations

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez visited Algeria on Monday in what could signal a thaw in relations between the two countries. Under his predecessor, Bruno Retailleau, France tightened entry conditions for Algerian diplomats and threatened retaliation if Algeria refused to take back its citizens ordered to leave French territory. Ties worsened further after France recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a region at the heart of a decades-long dispute.